Texas Supreme Court backs Abbott on limiting ballot drops

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a state court injunction against Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting counties to one drop-off site each for mailed ballots.

In a 17-page opinion and without dissent, justices ruled Tuesday that a temporary injunction by a lower court in a court challenge by civil rights groups in Austin stood little chance of success on its merits. The lower-court order had been upheld by the Austin-based 3rd Texas Court of Appeals.

The high-court court ruling upholds a restriction Abbott imposed on Oct. 1, just before early voting in the Nov. 3 general election was to open. The Republican said the restriction was needed to ensure election security, but Democrats blasted it as a naked effort to suppress voters.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already had reinstated the limit on Oct. 12 in a separate case, staying a federal judge’s ruling that had blocked its implementation.