The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
Civil rights groups have filed two new federal lawsuits challenging the sweeping new election restrictions Texas Republicans approved earlier this week.
One suit, filed by a coalition of Texas civic action groups as well as a former poll worker and Harris county election administrator, argues that the law is intentionally designed to discriminate against minority voters. It also says the law violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections as well as the equal protection guarantee of the 14th amendment along with the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A second federal suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Disability Rights Texas, makes similar claims.
Among the provisions the suit challenges are those that allow poll watchers increased movement at the polls, something it says could lead harassment of voters of color at the polls.
“Should poll watchers engage in behavior that intimidates or harasses voters or election workers, including hovering over them or trailing voters through the polling place, election workers run the risk of criminal prosecution if they attempt to stop such behavior. The risk of such intimidation has historically been and will continue to be higher for voters of color,” it says.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Antonio, also challenges provisions in the law that impose new requirements on those who assist voters, including an oath in which they are required to affirm the voter asked them for assistance and that they understand the voter’s ballot may not be counted if they are ineligible for assistance. Assistors may also swear that they did not “pressure” the voter for assistance.
“This additional language will cause assistors to question every voter’s ‘need’ for assistance, which further invades the voter’s privacy and opens assistors to the threat of prosecution for any misstep,” the suit says. “This additional language will cause assistors to question every voter’s “need” for assistance, which further invades the voter’s privacy and opens assistors to the threat of prosecution for any misstep.”
The groups are also challenging a new prohibition blocking election officials from soliciting vote by mail applications. The law, the suit says, chills the speech of officials like plaintiff Isabel Longoria, the Harris County election administrator, from encouraging people to vote by mail.
Several more suits are expected in the coming days.
