Gov. Abbott postpones May runoff elections, despite Dems calls for vote-by-mail
Over concerns with Texans flocking to the polls amid the coronavirus’ spread, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Friday postponing the May 26 primary runoff elections to July 14.
While the Republican Party of Texas had supported postponing the runoff elections, the Democratic Party of Texas had filed a lawsuit just hours before Abbott’s decision seeking to allow all Texans to vote-by-mail instead.
“Holding the runoff primary election on May 26, 2020, would cause the congregation of large gatherings of people in confined spaces and force numerous election workers to come into close proximity with others, thereby threatening the health and safety of many Texans and literally exposing them to risk of death due to COVID-l9,” the proclamation read.
Early voting for the primary runoff elections will begin Monday, July 6, and Election Day will now occur on the same day as the special election to fill outgoing Sen. Kirk Watson’s District 14 seat.
The special election would ordinarily be held on May 2 — the same date municipal ones are currently scheduled for. With municipal elections less than two months away, Abbott issued a proclamation Wednesday allowing local officials to postpone their May 2 elections to Nov. 3. However, the final decision on delaying May 2 elections will ultimately be up to local officials.
Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey said in a statement Thursday night that the party would ask Abbott to hold the primary runoff at a later date and “will not participate in schemes that put votes and results of the elections at risk” — in reference to the Texas Democratic Party’s calls for expanded vote-by-mail.
Texas Democratic Party’s lawsuit
The Texas Democratic Party’s lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court Friday against the Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs and Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, argues that a provision of Texas Election Code allows for Texans to cast their ballots by mail to prevent the coronavirus’ spread.
The lawsuit cites a section of state law that says a qualified voter can vote early by mail, “if the voter has a sickness or physical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place on election day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or of injuring the voter’s health.”
The lawsuit seeks a judge to declare that the provision allows any eligible voter to vote-by-mail in the upcoming elections “if they believe they should practice social distancing in order to hinder the known or unknown spread of a virus or disease.”
The offices of the Secretary of State and Travis County Clerk did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.
Limiting the virus’ spread
In order to qualify to vote by mail, Texans must submit an application and be either 65 years or older, disabled, out of the county on election day and during in-person early voting or be eligible to vote but confined in jail.
The polls can be busy places on election day, and some voters saw hours-long waits this past Super Tuesday. With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the rise, some lawmakers were concerned showing up to the polls would jeopardize public health.
In order to limit the virus’ spread, state and local officials have imposed restrictions, and Thursday Gov. Greg Abbott issued a sweeping executive order that temporarily closes all Texas schools, prohibits dining-in at bars and restaurants, limits social gatherings to 10 people, and more.
Abbott said the order was necessary to comply with increased measures from the federal government, such as the CDC’s heightened recommendations to cancel gatherings of 10 or more people.
“Given these conditions, upcoming elections for federal, state, county, city and other local offices will be vastly impacted. Importantly, voter behavior will change,” the lawsuit reads.
Thursday night, the Texas Democratic Party released a letter it had sent, detailing the Republican Party of Texas’ plans on how to handle the runoffs.
The letter said the Republican Party of Texas had suggested postponing the May election “on the assumption that the public health situation would be considerably improved by June.”
“The Texas Democratic Party suggested a ‘voting’ method by which voters would drop off ballots in bins in a drive-through setting and then let the ballots sit for five days hoping for contaminants or viruses to wear off,” Dickey said in a statement Thursday in response. “Given absurdities like that, I was not willing to agree to ‘immediately making significant changes to our election processes,’ as their letter stated.”
Seven states have already delayed their respective presidential primaries due to the pandemic. And while a handful of states — like Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington — already send mailed ballots to all eligible voters, shifting Texas’ May elections to such a system would cause a flurry of logistical issues for election officials on the ground.
In an effort to facilitate the upcoming May elections be held entirely by mail, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa had urged the Secretary of State’s Office to reallocate funds to assist local officials.
“Conversations with Texas Republicans fell apart last night because Republicans have no plan,” Hinojosa said in a statement Friday. “We must do everything we can to guarantee access to the ballot box for individuals who are practicing social distancing and self-quarantining. Current law says you can vote-by-mail if you are disabled and we believe COVID-19 puts the health of all of us at risk.”
