A federal court has supported a Texas law that stops people from getting paid to collect and handle mail-in ballots. This decision reverses a lower court’s ruling and allows Texas to keep the law in place.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that a lower court was wrong to block part of Texas’s 2021 election law, called Senate Bill 1. This part of the law makes it a crime for people to get paid to help voters fill out their mail-in ballots, especially if they try to influence how someone votes.
The law is meant to stop paid political workers from going door to door, helping people request and fill out mail-in ballots, and then collecting those ballots. Sometimes, these workers might try to pressure voters as they mark their ballots.
Those who support the law say that paying people to collect ballots can lead to cheating or pressuring voters, especially with mail-in voting where election officials aren’t watching.
Judge Edith H. Jones said that the lower court shouldn’t have blocked the law before it was even used and that it relied on guesses about what might happen.
The appeals court said that the words used in the law, like “payment” and “physical presence,” are easy to understand. The court also said that the law only applies when someone “knowingly” tries to break it, which makes it more specific.
The judges explained that the law is meant to stop people from bothering voters while they are filling out their mail-in ballots.
The court also said that Texas has a good reason to want to stop voter intimidation and cheating and to make sure people trust elections.
The court pointed to a Supreme Court decision from 2021, which said that mail-in voting can have a higher risk of fraud.
The appeals court said that the Texas law is focused on the right things because it only applies to people who are paid to handle ballots in person. It doesn’t apply to volunteers or people who are just talking about politics.
This decision is a big win for Texas officials who want to protect the state’s election rules.
