Federal Judge Strikes Down Key Provisions of Texas’s Omnibus Voter Suppression Law
On Oct. 11, a federal district judge ensured voters who need assistance can still receive it by striking down key provisions in Texas’s Senate Bill 1.
However shortly after, on Oct. 18, the district court paused its own order, thus allowing the provisions to stay in effect until after the 2024 election. Individuals who violate them before Nov. 6 can be criminally prosecuted.
Prior to the Oct. 18 stay, Judge Xavier Rodriguez’s decision blocked the following provisions, effective immediately:
- A provision that made it a felony for certain individuals to offer or receive payment for assistance with mail-in ballots.
- A provision that banned canvassers from saying certain things when a mail-in ballot is present. This provision was previously struck down for violating the First Amendment. Rodriguez further ruled that it violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.
Rodriguez also invalidated the following provisions, though existing materials like ballot envelopes and forms containing oaths will not be updated before the November election:
- A provision that added language to the voter assistance oath that would have limited the ability of assistors to communicate with voters about their ballots.
- Provisions that required voter assistors to provide their name, relationship to the voter, contact information, and whether they received compensation for their assistance.
“S.B. 1’s criminalization of compensated mail-ballot assistance clearly violates the Voting Rights Act’s guarantee that qualifying voters are entitled to voter assistance from the person of their choice,” said Zach Dolling, senior supervising attorney, Voting Rights Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project.
“This victory preserves that important right, which is necessary to ensure that voters with disabilities or with limited English proficiency have equal access to the ballot box.”
Civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice challenged multiple provisions of S.B. 1 after it was enacted in 2021 under the guise of “election integrity” by Texas’s Republican-controlled state legislature. The case went to trial last year. Rodriguez has yet to rule on the remaining challenged provisions of S.B. 1.
This post was updated Oct. 18 to reflect the stay.
Last update, Sept. 28
A federal judge struck down a key provision of Texas’s 2021 omnibus voter suppression legislation, Senate Bill 1, after finding unconstitutional a provision that criminally restricted how paid canvassers can engage with voters in the presence of a mail-in ballot.
In an extensive 78-page ruling, Judge Xavier Rodriguez concluded the law’s limitation on compensated canvassers’ voter engagement activities violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Rodriguez agreed with voting rights groups who argued the provision is unconstitutionally vague and places an undue burden on the right to free speech.
Texas is facing eight other voting and election lawsuits, which could have an impact on voters this fall.
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“This ruling affirms what we have known all along: It is unconstitutional for state leaders to criminalize organizers in Texas for getting out the vote when a mail ballot may be present,” said Savannah Kumar — a staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas — in a press release.
The ruling ensures organizers and activists in the Lone Star State may once again engage in activities like canvassing, voter assistance and get-out-the-vote efforts ahead of the Nov. 5 general election without fear of criminal liability.
Republicans defended the provision as a safeguard against so-called “vote harvesting” — the act of delivering absentee ballots on behalf of large sums of voters. As a result of today’s ruling, Texas can no longer conduct investigations or prosecute cases of alleged “vote harvesting” throughout the state.
In recent months, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) conducted raids on the homes of voting rights activists under the guise of investigating allegations of “vote harvesting.” A swat team, in one instance, raided the home of an 87-year-old volunteer for the League of United Latin American Citizens in an “election fraud probe.”
The legality of S.B. 1’s anti-voting provisions was put to the test at a six-week bench trial last year in a consolidated lawsuit brought by several voting and civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice following the law’s enactment. The trial involved dozens of witnesses and centered on allegations that S.B.1 has disproportionately adverse impacts on voters of color, voters with disabilities and older voters.
The lawsuit challenged multiple aspects of S.B. 1 — including the empowerment of partisan poll watchers, a ban on 24-hour and drive-thru voting, the criminalization of many voter outreach efforts, a ballot collection ban, mail-in ballot signature matching rules, new methods to cancel voter registrations and more. But Saturday’s ruling by Rodriguez only addressed S.B.1’s canvassing and voter engagement restriction.
Enacted in 2021 by Texas’ GOP Legislature, S.B. 1 garnered national attention and its far-reaching restrictions engendered calls for renewed federal voting rights legislation. On multiple occasions, Democratic state lawmakers attempted to break quorum and stymie the legislation by staging a coordinated walk-out and later fleeing to Washington D.C in protest.
Meanwhile, Republican proponents of the law claimed its provisions were designed to promote “election integrity” and “prevent fraud” in the wake of the 2020 election, despite admissions from state election officials that no widespread voter fraud occurred.
Though the ruling is a victory for voters, the court still needs to weigh in on the remainder of the challenged provisions of S.B. 1.
“This ruling is a major triumph in our fight to protect voting rights in Texas,” said Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project. “By striking down these unconstitutional restrictions, the Court has made it clear: voter suppression has no place in our democracy. With Election Day approaching, this decision will make it easier for Texans to vote without fear of being punished.”
Learn more about the case here.
This article was updated on Oct. 1 to clarify the ruling concerned a provision that restricts how in-person, paid canvassers can interact with voters if a mail-in ballot is present.