Fourth Lawsuit Filed Against Texas Over Voter Suppression Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, less than an hour after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed voter suppression bill Senate Bill 1 into law, a lawsuit was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF), Reed Smith LLP and The Arc on behalf of the Houston Area Urban League, Houston Justice, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Arc of Texas and an individual voter. This is the fourth lawsuit challenging S.B. 1; a lawsuit was filed minutes after S.B. 1 was enacted and two lawsuits were docketed last Friday before the bill became law.
The complaint challenges multiple provisions of S.B. 1, including its ban on drive-thru and 24-hour voting, limited early voting hours, elimination of straight-ticket voting, prohibition of drop boxes, limits on the mailing of absentee ballot applications, strict ID requirements for early voting applications, restrictions on providing assistance to voters and empowerment of poll watchers. The plaintiffs allege that S.B. 1’s “burdens will be disproportionately borne by Black and Latino voters and voters with disabilities” and therefore argues that the voter suppression law violates the First, 14th and 15th Amendments as well as the Voting Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.