Texas Supreme Court issues stay following Harris Co. Clerk’s plan regarding applications to vote

HOUSTON - The Texas Supreme Court announced a stay regarding a plan by the Harris County Clerk’s Office to send mail-in applications via mail to all registered voters in the county. 

A lawsuit was filed Monday morning by Steven F. Hotze, MD, the Harris County Republican Party, and Sharon Hemphill. 

The lawsuit alleged that Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins would be sending applications for mail-in ballots to over two million registered voters in Harris County regardless of whether the individual had requested the application or has a “disability” under Texas Election Code. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Hollins had to uphold an agreement he made not to send any unsolicited vote-by-mail applications to voters under 65 until five days after a temporary injunction hearing. That hearing is expected to take place sometime before September 9. 

As a result, the ruling stated, “There is no basis for emergency relief, temporary relief, or a direct mandamus action to this court particularly in light of the State vs. Hollins litigation.” 

On Wednesday, Hollins released a statement to FOX 26, “Our office’s top priority is to protect the right to vote and, during the time of COVID-19, to ensure that Harris County voters can cast their ballots safely. Since voting by mail is the safest way to vote, it is my duty to educate voters on who qualifies to vote by mail and make it convenient for qualified voters to apply. The Secretary of State and Attorney General have made it clear that they don’t want us to proactively send applications to voters—they think making it convenient to apply is a bad thing. We disagree, and fortunately, the law is on our side. While we await a decision from the court, we will send applications to voters aged 65 and over who are automatically eligible to vote by mail, as we did in June for the July Primary Runoff. We look forward to sending applications to other eligible voters after we have our day in court. The stay that the Texas Supreme Court issued today simply affirms what we already agreed to—we will have a hearing in Harris County District Court in the coming days and then proceed as planned.”

On Monday afternoon, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also sued over Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins’ plan to send over two million applications for mail-in ballots to every registered voter in Harris County. 

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Monday via Twitter, “Harris County's scheme can lead to voter fraud & compromise election results.”

Republican State Senator Paul Bettencourt told FOX 26, "It's a preposterous waste of money. It's bad operation. It's voter confusion. It shouldn't be done. People that are under 65, not disabled and would never qualify, are going to get a government document and think they can vote absentee when they can't,” said Bettencourt.

However, the Harris County Democratic Party sees it differently. 

“I see this as an absolute attack on voter rights and it is an act of voter suppression,” said Lillie Schechter, Harris County Democratic Party Chairwoman. “This should not be an ongoing battle. They should take a hard stand on saying voting is important to every single Texan and we are going to do everything we can to make it as accessible as possible, end of story,” said Schechter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.