The Houston-area county at the center of multiple legal fights related to voting closed 9 out of 10 of its drive-thru voting locations.
“In order to allow for drive-thru voting on Election Day while ensuring that all votes will be counted, the only drive-thru voting center on Election Day will be at Toyota Center,” Harrison County Clerk Chris Hollins said. “My job is to protect the right to vote for all Harris County voters, and that includes those who are going to vote on Election Day. I cannot in good faith encourage voters to cast their votes in tents if that puts their votes at risk.”
My job is to protect the right to vote for all Harris County voters, and that includes those who are going to vote on Election Day. I cannot in good faith encourage voters to cast their votes in tents if that puts their votes at risk. 3/
— Chris Hollins (@CGHollins) November 3, 2020
On Monday, a federal judge rejected an eleventh-hour bid from Republicans in the state to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes from the Democratic-leaning county. Four plaintiffs requested that the ballots be invalidated on the grounds that that drive-thru process was an illegal expansion of the curbside voting provision.
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U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen rejected the request, and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction on Monday.
In any event, the Fifth Circuit denies Hotze relief. Hopefully the whole mess is over now. pic.twitter.com/mTZ0fMJeRO
— Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) November 3, 2020
The Texas Supreme Court, composed entirely of Republicans, rejected another case from the same plaintiffs on Sunday. The high court also rejected a case over drive-through voting last month but didn’t provide any reasoning for the decision.
Hollins’ move to close the nine drive-thru locations came as a result of the Hanen’s ruling on what was considered a “building.”
“Judge Hanen issued his order upholding drive-thru voting during the Early Voting period. He also stated his view that the tents that house most of the drive-thru voting centers would not qualify as ‘buildings,’ which are required for Election Day polling places,” Hollins tweeted. “The Toyota Center DTV site fits the Judge’s definition of a ‘building’: it is ‘a structure with walls and a roof’ and ‘a permanent structure.’ It is thus unquestionably a suitable location for Election Day voting.”
Once considered a solidly red state, election forecasters in recent days have designated Texas as a “Toss-Up” state for the 2020 election. Before polls opened on Election Day, more people voted early in the 2020 election than all the votes cast in 2016, boosting Democrats’ hopes of shifting Texas into the party’s corner.
Texas hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1976, when it went for President Jimmy Carter. Before that, it has only voted for three Republican presidents since 1848 — Presidents Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon, according to 270 to Win. Trump won the state in 2016 with 52.2% of the vote, a 9-point lead over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
