Federal appeals court temporarily permits Texas to limit ballot return centers News
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Federal appeals court temporarily permits Texas to limit ballot return centers

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay on Saturday allowing Governor Greg Abbott to limit each county to one drop-off site for absentee ballots for the upcoming election.

On Friday, a federal judge had granted a preliminary injunction against the governor’s limit. The plaintiffs had noted that the governor’s limit meant absentee voters would have to “travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers.” The plaintiffs had also noted that many Texans eligible for absentee voting were elderly or disabled. Therefore, the limit could force already-vulnerable absentee voters to face increased exposure to COVID-19.

The district judge found that the difficulties and risks imposed by the limit likely violated Texans’ “fundamental right to vote.”

This case is currently on appeal before the Fifth Circuit. A panel for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the temporary injunction while the appeal is ongoing.

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