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An election worker accepts ballots from voters in cars at a drive-through mail ballot drop-off site at NRG Stadium on October 7, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Gov. Gregg Abbott issued an executive order limiting each county to one mail ballot drop-off site due to the pandemic. (Photo: Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
Stacked With Trump Appointees, Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas GOP's Rule Restricting Ballot Drop-Off Sites to One Per County
"Three Trump appointees upholding voter suppression."
Oct 13, 2020
An ongoing battle in Texas over voters' access to absentee ballot drop-off locations illustrates the consequences of President Donald Trump's relentless focus on stacking the judicial branch with conservative appointees, as a federal appeals court late Monday night upheld Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's limit on voting locations across the state.
A panel of three Trump appointees on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on a District Court's earlier ruling, in which Judge Robert Pitman had said Abbott was unfairly cutting off access to voting for people across the state by limiting ballot drop-off locations to one per county.
Following Monday night's ruling, Texas voters are likely to face hours-long lines to drop off their absentee ballots, like those that reporters have recorded in Harris County in recent days.
Trump named his 200th judicial appointee to the federal court system in June, and is working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to push through the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court after appointing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh earlier in his term.
On Monday, Democratic strategist Emmy Bengston tweeted, three of Trump's chosen judges upheld "voter suppression."
Abbott and other Republicans claim allowing more than one drop-off location per county would invite so-called "voter fraud"--which multiple studies have found to be extremely rare whether a voter casts a ballot in person, by mail, or by dropping it off.
A record number of Americans have requested absentee ballots this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Abbott's attempt to make voting more difficult for people who aim to avoid spreading Covid-19 caught international attention this month, with Spanish politician Alfons Lopez Tena denouncing the move as a "travesty" intended to disenfranchise voters of color in Texas.
In his ruling last week, Pitman sided with a coalition of civil rights groups, including the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens, who filed suit against the state arguing that voters particularly vulnerable to severe cases of Covid-19 would be disenfranchised by Abbott's restrictions.
"Older and disabled voters living in Texas' largest and most populous counties must travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers where they would be at an increased risk of being infected by the coronavirus in order to exercise their right to vote and have it counted," Pitman wrote in his ruling.
The ruling on Monday, journalist Adam Serwer sarcastically tweeted, illustrates the Republican Party's view that "the constitution very clearly says 'Republicans win every time, especially when disenfranchising millions of voters they think won't support them.'"
" Democracy is ok as long as you vote Republican. If you don't, well, that freedom can be taken away from you because it's not as important as 'liberty,'" wrote Serwer. "What's liberty? It's when one party runs things because it successfully disenfranchises the other party's voters. Any questions?"
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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An ongoing battle in Texas over voters' access to absentee ballot drop-off locations illustrates the consequences of President Donald Trump's relentless focus on stacking the judicial branch with conservative appointees, as a federal appeals court late Monday night upheld Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's limit on voting locations across the state.
A panel of three Trump appointees on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on a District Court's earlier ruling, in which Judge Robert Pitman had said Abbott was unfairly cutting off access to voting for people across the state by limiting ballot drop-off locations to one per county.
Following Monday night's ruling, Texas voters are likely to face hours-long lines to drop off their absentee ballots, like those that reporters have recorded in Harris County in recent days.
Trump named his 200th judicial appointee to the federal court system in June, and is working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to push through the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court after appointing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh earlier in his term.
On Monday, Democratic strategist Emmy Bengston tweeted, three of Trump's chosen judges upheld "voter suppression."
Abbott and other Republicans claim allowing more than one drop-off location per county would invite so-called "voter fraud"--which multiple studies have found to be extremely rare whether a voter casts a ballot in person, by mail, or by dropping it off.
A record number of Americans have requested absentee ballots this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Abbott's attempt to make voting more difficult for people who aim to avoid spreading Covid-19 caught international attention this month, with Spanish politician Alfons Lopez Tena denouncing the move as a "travesty" intended to disenfranchise voters of color in Texas.
In his ruling last week, Pitman sided with a coalition of civil rights groups, including the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens, who filed suit against the state arguing that voters particularly vulnerable to severe cases of Covid-19 would be disenfranchised by Abbott's restrictions.
"Older and disabled voters living in Texas' largest and most populous counties must travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers where they would be at an increased risk of being infected by the coronavirus in order to exercise their right to vote and have it counted," Pitman wrote in his ruling.
The ruling on Monday, journalist Adam Serwer sarcastically tweeted, illustrates the Republican Party's view that "the constitution very clearly says 'Republicans win every time, especially when disenfranchising millions of voters they think won't support them.'"
" Democracy is ok as long as you vote Republican. If you don't, well, that freedom can be taken away from you because it's not as important as 'liberty,'" wrote Serwer. "What's liberty? It's when one party runs things because it successfully disenfranchises the other party's voters. Any questions?"
An ongoing battle in Texas over voters' access to absentee ballot drop-off locations illustrates the consequences of President Donald Trump's relentless focus on stacking the judicial branch with conservative appointees, as a federal appeals court late Monday night upheld Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's limit on voting locations across the state.
A panel of three Trump appointees on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on a District Court's earlier ruling, in which Judge Robert Pitman had said Abbott was unfairly cutting off access to voting for people across the state by limiting ballot drop-off locations to one per county.
Following Monday night's ruling, Texas voters are likely to face hours-long lines to drop off their absentee ballots, like those that reporters have recorded in Harris County in recent days.
Trump named his 200th judicial appointee to the federal court system in June, and is working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to push through the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court after appointing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh earlier in his term.
On Monday, Democratic strategist Emmy Bengston tweeted, three of Trump's chosen judges upheld "voter suppression."
Abbott and other Republicans claim allowing more than one drop-off location per county would invite so-called "voter fraud"--which multiple studies have found to be extremely rare whether a voter casts a ballot in person, by mail, or by dropping it off.
A record number of Americans have requested absentee ballots this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Abbott's attempt to make voting more difficult for people who aim to avoid spreading Covid-19 caught international attention this month, with Spanish politician Alfons Lopez Tena denouncing the move as a "travesty" intended to disenfranchise voters of color in Texas.
In his ruling last week, Pitman sided with a coalition of civil rights groups, including the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens, who filed suit against the state arguing that voters particularly vulnerable to severe cases of Covid-19 would be disenfranchised by Abbott's restrictions.
"Older and disabled voters living in Texas' largest and most populous counties must travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers where they would be at an increased risk of being infected by the coronavirus in order to exercise their right to vote and have it counted," Pitman wrote in his ruling.
The ruling on Monday, journalist Adam Serwer sarcastically tweeted, illustrates the Republican Party's view that "the constitution very clearly says 'Republicans win every time, especially when disenfranchising millions of voters they think won't support them.'"
" Democracy is ok as long as you vote Republican. If you don't, well, that freedom can be taken away from you because it's not as important as 'liberty,'" wrote Serwer. "What's liberty? It's when one party runs things because it successfully disenfranchises the other party's voters. Any questions?"
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