Who could have seen this coming? Texas’ highly restrictive new voting laws tripped up thousands of voters, resulting in nearly 23,000 ballots being thrown out, according to the Associated Press. The AP was able to receive voting information from 187 of Texas’ 254 counties, accounting for 85% of the 3 million voters who (attempted to) cast their ballots for the March primary. Whereas ballots are typically rejected at low percentages in Texas and around the country, the state saw at least 13% of mail-in ballots discarded and uncounted based on the counties the AP was able to obtain data from. MIT Election Data and Science Lab Director Charles Stewart III summed it up pretty concisely when reached by the outlet: “My first reaction is ‘yikes.’” Same, dude.
The Voting Rights Program Director for the Texas Civil Rights Project—a group that has consistently fought against legislation like SB 1 and even filed a lawsuit against the state over it—was sharper with his words. “Voter suppression in Texas is, unfortunately, not novel to 2022, but this data is alarming and so is our state lawmakers' disregard for protecting voters' rights. We are calling on the Texas Legislature to repeal this provision and for our federal government to finally enact voter protection—before the midterms. If not, we risk further threat to our democracy.” Voting Rights Program Director Hani Mirza said in a statement. The suit was filed by Texas Civil Rights Project as well as other organizations like the ACLU of Texas and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. It rightly claims that vulnerable communities will face such restrictive conditions to vote that their voices may not be heard at all. Sadly, groups like the Texas Civil Rights Project seem to be losing their lawsuits left and right in the fight against voter suppression.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that three lawsuits filed in response to Texas’ voting restrictions were ruled in favor of the state on Wednesday. The 2-1 verdict saw judges only siding with Texas because they claim that organizations targeted the wrong state agency when filing their lawsuits. According to one of those rulings, even though the Secretary of State issued guidance regarding, say, verifying signatures for mail-in ballots, that didn’t make the agency the authority on such matters. “Offering advice, guidance, or interpretive assistance does not compel or constrain local officials in fulfilling their duty to verify mail-in ballots,” Judges Stuart Kyle Duncan and Don Willett wrote.
Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who dissented in all three cases, wrote in his dissent for this particular case—George Richardson, et al v. Texas Secretary of State, et al—that the court’s interpretation of what’s known as Ex parte Young is inadequate at best. Ex parte Young was a 1908 Supreme Court case allowing those harmed by an unconstitutional law to sue the government officials who attempt to enforce it. Higginbotham basically insinuates that Duncan and Willett used the case as a reason not to even entertain the many ways in which Texas is failing its voters. “Ex parte Young is no culprit,” Higginbotham wrote. “About this we can agree, partisan views ought to prevail by persuading voters, not by denying their right to vote.”
It’s worth noting that, although all three judges are Republican-appointed, only Higginbotham was appointed by a Republican from a wholly different era: Ronald Reagan. Both Duncan and Willett were, unsurprisingly, appointed by Donald Trump. This is certainly reflective of the way that many courthouse decisions have gone in the post-Trump era. A recent New Republic article highlighted how Republicans are picking and choosing which pro-Trump judges should hear their cases in order to block as many of the Biden administration’s policies as they can. The next election in Texas is a primary runoff scheduled for May 24. Once again, Texas’ restrictive voting laws will be tested. Given the lack of movement from lawmakers and courts to do the right thing, another unsurprising outcome is sadly what Texans have to look forward to. We can change that by taking action to fight Republican attacks on voting rights.