Judge asked to block Texas law limiting mail-in ballot applications
A Harris County official and an Austin-area voter registrar have asked a federal judge to block a new Texas law that makes it a crime for election officials to send a vote-by-mail application to registered voters who hadn't asked for one.
Isabel Longoria, Harris County's elections administrator, argued that the recently enacted prohibition violates her free speech rights and hampers her ability to encourage Houston-area voters to cast a ballot.
"There is no legitimate purpose in suppressing speech in order to suppress the lawful exercise of the right to vote," said Longoria's motion for a preliminary injunction, which was filed Tuesday.
The motion was the next step in a federal lawsuit — filed Dec. 10 by Longoria and Cathy Morgan, a volunteer deputy registrar in Travis and Williamson counties — that seeks to block a provision that carries a jail sentence of six months to two years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/12/28/us-judge-asked-block-texas-law-limiting-mail-ballot-applications/9035741002/