'Ultra-Conservative' Judge Assigned to Texas Republicans' Lawsuit, Which Seeks to Toss Out ...
‘Ultra-Conservative’ Judge Assigned to Texas Republicans’ Lawsuit, Which Seeks to Toss Out 117,000 Ballots in Harris County
https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/ultra-conservative-judge-assigned-to-texas-republicans-lawsuit-which-seeks-to-toss-out-117000-ballots-in-harris-county/
After being turned away from the Texas Supreme Court, a group of Republicans have filed a new legal challenge to Harris County’s implementation of drive-thru voting sites in federal court, claiming the system set up by County Clerk Chris Hollins (D) encourages an “illegal voting scheme.” Though experts don’t think the plaintiffs have a particularly strong legal argument, the case has been assigned to one of the most conservative judges in the district.
The complaint was filed in the Southern District of Texas Houston Division by three state Republican candidates for office and one notoriously litigious GOP operative. The suit wants the court to grant an injunction prohibiting drive-thru voting from continuing, and to reject all ballots cast through the process as being in violation of the Texas Election Code. The result would invalidate more than 117,000 votes from the state’s largest Democratic stronghold.
The challenge was initially viewed as futile, but that outlook shifted Saturday when the case landed before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen. Hanen, who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and has been described as “ultra conservative” and “one of the most notoriously partisan conservatives in the federal judiciary,” is best remembered for reprimanding DOJ attorneys in the Obama administration for lying to him. He barred them from his courtroom and required 3,000 of the department’s lawyers in 26 states to take ethics classes.