AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Should Texans be able to vote by mail in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic?
That was the question before Travis County District Court Judge Tim Sulak Wednesday morning, who indicated that he would grant a temporary injunction allowing all registered voters to qualify for a mail-in ballot. The lawsuit was filed by the Texas Democratic Party on behalf of two voters.
State law currently allows for those over the age of 65, or who are injured, disabled, or out of the county to vote by mail. Democrats argued that social distancing under the current pandemic meets the disability test under the law.
Sulak said the word "disability" is vague enough in the law to include reasonable fears of getting COVID-19. Texas' election code defines disability as a "sickness or physical condition" that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of "injuring the voter’s health."
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa celebrated the decision. "Today is a victory for all Texans. The right to vote is central to our democracy," Hinojosa said in a statement. "As public health officials began speaking to the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, the Texas Democratic Party knew voting by mail would have to reduce the demand for in-person voting. In Wisconsin, we saw the debacle that ensues when voters are prevented from mailing their ballots during a pandemic. Voters should not have to choose between their lives or their right to vote."
Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision an "unlawful expansion of mail-in voting", indicating an almost certian appeal. "I am disappointed that the district court ignored the plain text of the Texas Election Code to allow perfectly healthy voters to take advantage of special protections made available to Texans with actual illness or disabilities," Paxton said in a statement. "My office will continue to defend Texas’s election laws to ensure that our elections are fair and our democratic process is lawfully maintained."
The injunction, if it stands, is expected to apply to Texas' rescheduled primary runoff elections on July 14 and the general election on November 3.
