Poor Stallman

https://www.stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_(Governor_of_Texas_ordered_reduction_in_places_to_drop_off_ballots) -- The governor of Texas ordered counties to reduce the number of places to drop off ballots. This is a new method, but it continues the Republican pattern of voter suppression. If you can't win honestly, cheat, is their motto. If Republicans were loyal to the idea of democracy, they would not seek to stop people who disagree with them from voting. Their use of voter suppression demonstrates that they are opposed to the basic ideas of the United States. -- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/texas-governor-greg-abbott-ballot-votes-election -- Outrage as Texas governor orders closure of multiple ballot drop-off sites -- Thu 1 Oct 2020 -- Counties told to offer voters one single place to return ballots

Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the state’s governor, on Thursday made it even harder. The announcement from Abbott, a Republican, limits an executive order from July that made it modestly easier for voters to return their ballots during the pandemic. Texas usually only lets voters return their mail-in ballots in person on election day, but Abbott’s July order said voters could return their ballots in person to the election clerk’s office earlier. He also extended early voting by six days. As a result, some of the biggest counties in the state had planned to offer voters multiple places to drop off their ballots. Harris county, the most populous in the state, planned to let voters return their ballots at 11 of the clerk’s annex offices around the county. Travis county, home of Austin, planned to offer four places to return their ballots. But the move drew backlash within his own party; Republicans sued [ https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/23/texas-republicans-greg-abbott-early-voting/ ] the governor over the changes.

On Thursday, Abbott backtracked on his earlier order and issued a new executive order only allowing counties to offer voters a single place to return their ballots. Abbott’s order also said officials had to let official poll-watchers inspect the process. Abbott’s order quickly drew outcry and accusations of voter suppression. Texas already severely limits mail-in voting to those who are 65 and older, or who meet a select few other requirements. The state has aggressively opposed a slew of lawsuits seeking to ease those restrictions amid the pandemic. Texas has seen massive growth among Hispanic and other minority voters in recent years, and many of the restrictions in place are seen as a blatant effort to preserve white political power. The Harris county clerk, Chris Hollins, said the new proclamation issued by Abbott “will result in widespread confusion and voter suppression”.

“Multiple drop-off locations have been advertised for weeks,” Hollins said in a statement. “Our office is more than willing to accommodate poll watchers at mail ballot drop-off locations. But to force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location in a county that stretches over nearly 2,000 sq miles is prejudicial and dangerous.” Abbott’s Thursday order is the latest in a series of moves Republicans across the country have made to limit [ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-dropboxes/ballot-drop-boxes-are-latest-battleground-in-u-s-election-fight-idUSKBN25G14I ] how Americans can return their mail-in ballots. In Ohio, Frank LaRose, the state’s top election official, is seeking to limit each county to a single drop-box for voters to return their ballots. In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign is seeking to block the use of drop boxes. Voting advocates have stressed the need for in-person drop-off locations amid concerns about the reliability of the United States Postal Service after widespread delays this summer. In early September, the Texas supreme court blocked Harris county from sending absentee ballots to all of its 2.4 million registered voters. The lawsuit was brought by Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton.

In an interview with the Guardian, Paxton said he opposes universal mail-in ballots, citing widespread voter fraud. Several studies and investigations have shown voter fraud is not a widespread problem. “I think that’s a wonderful utopia – people who don’t want to commit fraud. Fraud is much more easily associated with mail-in ballots because we don’t have any proof of who actually voted,” Paxton said. “If you open the door, your vote doesn’t matter as much. It’s being diluted by fraudulent voters. You’d be giving up your vote by making it easier for everyone to mail in their ballot.” The Texas Democratic party was quick to condemn Abbott’s order.

“Republicans are on the verge of losing, so Governor Abbott is trying to adjust the rules last-minute,” Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the state Democratic party said in a statement, describing state Republicans as “cheaters”. “Make no mistake, Democracy itself is on the ballot. Every Texan must get out and vote these cowards out!”

https://www.stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#13_October_2020_(Texas_order_to_shut_down_ballot_drop-off_sites) -- Federal judge blocks Texas governor's order to shut down ballot drop-off sites. I suppose this will go through two appeals and reach the Supreme Court. I wonder what it will say. -- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/10/texas-mail-in-ballot-drop-off-sites-judge -- Federal judge blocks Texas governor's order to shut down ballot drop-off sites -- Sat 10 Oct 2020 -- Last week the governor, Greg Abbott, limited >>372 each county to one mail-in ballot drop-off site

On Friday evening, US federal judge Robert Pitman blocked Texas governor Greg Abbott’s order to shut down mail-in ballot drop-off sites across the state as the election is currently under way. Last week, Abbott issued a proclamation [ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/03/texas-mail-in-ballot-drop-off-sites ] limiting each county to only one ballot drop-off site, regardless of size or population. This decision would have led to the closure of drop-off sites across the state, including 11 in Harris county and three in Travis county. A lawsuit was immediately filed by civil right organizations.

Critics argued Abbott’s order to close drop-off sites would disproportionately affect larger, more diverse counties and hit communities of color, making it more difficult for them to vote. Harris county has more than 4.7 million residents and is the third most populous county in the nation and home to the city of Houston. Travis county is home to Texas’s capital city, Austin. By comparison, smaller counties like Brewster county in west Texas, which has a population of just under 10,000, would remain unaffected by the ruling as it has always only had one drop-off site.

Requests for absentee ballots in Texas are higher than previous elections due to the coronavirus pandemic, but concerns of mail slowdowns [ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/usps-post-office-mail-slowdowns-louis-dejoy ] presented a need for drop-off locations. The ruling by Pitman blocking Abbott’s move is a victory for those deemed eligible to vote by mail in the state, including the elderly and disabled who would have had to travel farther distances to drop off their ballot and risk exposure to Covid-19. In a statement, the Harris county clerk, Chris Hollins, said: “Tonight’s injunction reinstating Harris county voters’ ability to hand-deliver their ballots at 12 county offices is a victory for voting rights. The governor’s suppressive tactics should not be tolerated, and tonight’s ruling shows that the law is on the side of Texas voters.”