Group of Republicans asks Texas Supreme Court to block early voting expansion
A group of Republicans, including a Tarrant County tea party official, says it has asked the Texas Supreme Court to block the state’s expanded early voting period.
The GOP members, including Julie McCarty of Grapevine, said they filed a petition Wednesday asking the court to overturn Gov. Greg Abbott’s July executive order that added six days to the state’s early voting period in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Early voting, originally scheduled to begin Oct. 19, is set to begin Oct. 13 and continue through Oct. 30. The election is Nov. 3, and is expected to draw a record number of voters to the polls.
McCarty is chief executive officer of the True Texas Project, which was formerly known as the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party.
Joining her in the legal action were Houston GOP activist Steven Hotze, state Republican Party chairman Allen West, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and several members of the legislature.
State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, was among the legislators on the petition.
The petitioners argued that the state’s election laws require early voting to begin on the 17th day before an election.
“Governor Abbott seems to have forgotten that the Texas Constitution is not a document that he consults at his convenience,” Jared Woodfill, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement reported by the Texas Tribune. “It is an uninterrupted charter of governmental structure that limits the Governor Abbott’s ability to act as a king.”
A Texas Supreme Court spokesperson said a copy of the petition wasn’t yet available, and he didn’t have further information on it.
Abbott issued a proclamation July 27 extending the early voting period, and also extending the period in which mail-in ballots could be delivered. Extending early voting would make polling sites less crowded, and thus make it easier for the state’s residents to socially distance from each other.
“As we respond to COVID-19, the State of Texas is focused on strategies that preserve Texans’ ability to vote in a way that also mitigates the spread of the virus,” Abbott said in July. “By extending the early voting period and expanding the period in which mail-in ballots can be hand-delivered, Texans will have greater flexibility to cast their ballots, while at the same time protecting themselves and others from COVID-19.”
