Texas can investigate people for alleged vote harvesting as legal battle over 2021 law continues

(Texas Tribune) -- The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Texas Attorney General can continue investigating alleged cases of vote harvesting as a legal battle over a Texas law enacting new voting restrictions continues playing out. The opinion overturns — for now — a federal judge's ruling that Texas' Senate Bill 1's prohibitions on certain voter outreach efforts were unconstitutionally vague and restricted free speech.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez's ruling from Sept. 28 immediately halted the state’s ability to investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, such as the investigation into the League of United Latin American Citizens by Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Paxton appealed that decision to the 5th Circuit Court, which granted a temporary stay until Oct. 10. Now the law can remain in effect until the full appeal is granted or denied.

Under the law, a person who knowingly provided or offered vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation is committing a third-degree felony. This meant that organizers of voter outreach organizations and even volunteers could spend up to 10 years in prison and fined up to $10,000 for giving or offering these services.

“Blocking our ability to investigate certain election crimes would have been a serious disruption to the electoral landscape with only a month left before Election Day,” Paxton said in a Friday statement.

According to Republican lawmakers, the provision was put in place to prevent voter fraud and secure election integrity.

But in the Sept. 28 ruling, the judge noted that there was widespread confusion about how to implement the canvassing restriction from local election administrators. This confusion also left voter outreach organizations uncertain about whether they could provide volunteers with food or bus fare because it could look like compensation.

Several organizations — including La Union del Pueblo Entero, LULAC and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund — have filed lawsuits against many other provisions of the law, including voter assistance and mail-in ballot restrictions. The challenges to these provisions have not been ruled on yet. The original complaints were filed in August and September 2021.

Before the law, organizations like OCA-Greater Houston, an advocacy organization for people of Asian and Pacific Island descent, would host in-person election events and allow attendees to bring their mail-in ballots in order to receive help like language assistance.

Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, wrote of the Sept. 28 ruling that “Today’s ruling means that voter outreach organizers and other advocates in Texas can speak to mail ballot voters about issues on the ballot and urge voters to support improvements to their communities.”

ACLU of Texas had celebrated the Sept. 28 ruling on X saying, “This is a win for voting rights in the state, and for the organizations that help keep elections accessible.”

This U.S. District Court document is available at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/28/texas-vote-harvesting-law-unconstitutional/

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/28/texas-vote-harvesting-law-unconstitutional/.

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