The United States District Court in Southern Texas on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party earlier this year that intended to block a state law ending straight-ticket voting starting with the general election in November.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a press release Wednesday applauded the court’s decision to dismiss the suit, which opposed a law that requires individuals to vote for each candidate on a ballot instead of using an option that selected all candidates of a single party.
“Nothing is more vital to preserving our Constitution and the rule of law than the integrity of our voting process, and my office will do everything within its abilities to solidify trust in every election in the state of Texas,” Paxton said in a statement Wednesday.
In the federal lawsuit filed in Laredo earlier this year, Texas Democrats argued that the law would “be a disaster for Texas elections,” worsening waiting times at polling sites and disproportionately affecting Latino and African American voters, who tend to live in urban areas with long ballots that require more time to fill out.
The Legislature voted largely along party lines in 2017 to ban straight-ticket voting. Almost every Democratic lawmaker opposed the change, arguing that it presented an unnecessary obstacle to voting. Almost every Republican supported ending straight-ticket voting, saying it would force voters to make more informed choices on down-ballot races.
More Democrats than Republicans tend to vote by straight ticket in the state’s larger counties.
“As a result, already lengthy polling-place lines will grow,” the lawsuit said.
“In ending a century-old voting practice that Texans have relied on to exercise their most fundamental and sacred rights … Texas has recklessly created a recipe for disaster at the polls in 2020,” the lawsuit adds, noting that in 2018 more than 5.6 million Texans, or about two-thirds of voters, cast straight-ticket ballots.
The lawsuit added that in addition to allowing for faster voting, particularly in urban counties where “voters are regularly asked to make decisions in as many as 80 races or referendum issues,” straight-ticket voting ensured that voters fully completed their ballots.
The lawsuit was the fourth filed by Texas Democrats in recent months to challenge voting-related laws and rules in the state.
Credit: Source link
