The Republican Party of Texas has filed a lawsuit against the Harris County Clerk
Harris county has ten drive through voting sights. The Republicans are suing to shut them down. University of Houston political scientist Dr. Brandon Rottinghaus says the effect of what the Republicans are asking for is a reduction in the number of people who can vote. "Texas has historically been very bad at letting people vote. It is one of the most difficult states to vote in. So Republicans definitely want to take it to a position to limit the number of people who are voting."
He says Democrats want to call it voter suppression, which he says it may or may not be true. He says there's no technical term for this, but this lawsuit would make it more challenging for voters to cast a ballot.
A lawsuit over the number of drop off ballot boxes per county has been bouncing around in the courts. Rottinghaus says "Creating confusion before an election can damage the likelihood a person turns out to vote. The distance does matter. If you change a polling place or if you increase the distance a person has to travel to cast a ballot, that may reduce the likelihood a person turns out to vote. There are serious consequences to reducing the number of ballot, drop off locations."
He says the courts have been reluctant to change the process of voting this late in the game, especially since we've already had ballots cast and the process has begun. "It's hard to know definitively. This is a year where anything can happen."
