Appeals court declines to ban drive-thru voting in Harris County on Election Day
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied an effort to ban drive-thru voting on Election Day in Harris County.
The emergency motion requesting the ban was filed on Monday night after a federal judge earlier in the day rejected a Republican-led effort to invalidate thousands of votes that had already been cast by drive-thru voting.
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The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the motion in a one-sentence ruling late Monday. The appeal did not ask the court to overturn votes already cast at drive-thru sites.
On the eve of Election Day, a federal judge ruled that nearly 127,000 ballots cast by drive-thru voting in Harris County would stand, and the drive-thru voting method could continue on Tuesday.
RELATED: Judge rejects GOP effort to throw out 127,0000 Harris County drive-thru votes
During early voting, Harris County offered 10 drive-thru locations as an option for its nearly 5 million residents amid worries of spreading the coronavirus.
On Monday night, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins announced that the Toyota Center would be the only location for drive-thru voting on Election Day.
"In order to allow for drive-thru voting on Election Day while ensuring that all votes will be counted, the only drive-thru voting center on Election Day will be at Toyota Center," Hollins tweeted.
Hundreds of walk-in voting sites are also open in the county on Election Day. Click here to view the list.
RELATED: Harris County breaks record for highest early voting turnout
A record 1.4 million early votes have already been cast in Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.