John,

Today, Mi Familia Vota, the Texas NAACP, and individual voter plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas challenging the state’s in-person election practices, arguing they are unsafe, high risk, and unequal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Free Speech For People, the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, and the law firm of Lyons & Lyons represent the plaintiffs in this case against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Ruth Hughes.

The lawsuit alleges that the state’s reliance on repeat-touch voting machines, its insufficient number of polling places, its limited and inaccessible early voting locations, and its voter identification requirements will result in unsafe voting conditions and increased risk of coronavirus transmission, which in turn will result in voter suppression. The health risks and adverse impact of these policies will place an undue burden on the right to vote and disproportionately affect voters of color, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law, the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and Fifteenth Amendment, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Voters should not have to risk their lives, health, or the health of their families in order to vote, and they should not have to choose disenfranchisement in order to protect themselves. During this pandemic, election policies that create unnecessary risk to the health and safety of voters are unconstitutional. Texas officials must ensure that in-person voting is safe and accessible, including for voters and communities that are most vulnerable to serious illness.

Free Speech For People is committed to fighting the threat of voter suppression in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the United States, but we need your support. Can you chip in to help us protect the right to vote for every American?

More than 3 million Americans have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Over 130,000 have died, and many others have experienced debilitating illness and permanent side effects. In Texas, cases are still trending upwards, and public health experts warn that the crisis will likely worsen in Texas without immediate and serious interventions. Moreover, public health experts warn that a second wave of COVID-19 is likely to occur in the fall, coinciding with the November 2020 general elections, and may be more severe than the first. Due to existing socioeconomic and healthcare disparities, Black and Latino citizens have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and are at higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness, resulting in higher rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. 

Through this lawsuit, plaintiffs seek injunctive relief to secure safe, constitutional voting practices for Texas. Specifically, the complaint seeks:

• Suspension of Texas law that limits mobile early voting, to enable counties to bring early voting to rural and mobility-limited populations in a safe manner;
  
• Extension of the duration of early voting;
  
• Prohibition of any reduction in the number of polling places in Texas;
  
• The opening of additional polling places in counties where lines typically exceed 20 minutes;
  
• The option of voting on hand-marked paper ballots, while maintaining working machines that are thoroughly disinfected after each vote to protect voters who need to use these machines to vote; and
  
• Implementation of social distancing measures at all polling places.

Voters in Texas and across the country, regardless of their race, income, or location, have a right to vote without fear for their health or safety. Can you help us guarantee safe, accessible, and fair elections for the people of Texas?

Thank you for everything you do,

Courtney Hostetler

Senior Counsel, Free Speech For People