The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that “a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19” is not a physical disability that qualifies people to vote by mail.
The court agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has argued that only a physical illness or disability that prevents voters from going to the polls should qualify an individual to vote by mail.
Judges decided that the risk of contracting the virus alone does not meet the state’s qualifications for voting by mail, noting that the decision to apply to vote by mail based on a disability is the voter’s and that they were confident clerks “will comply with the law in good faith.”
The decision is a loss for the Texas Democratic Party and voting rights groups who had pushed for expanded mail voting during the CCP virus pandemic and filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts on the matter, winning temporary victories in lower courts.
In its ruling on Wednesday, the court said the Texas Democratic Party’s definition of disability was overly broad and such an interpretation would enable things like “being too tired to drive to a polling place” to count as a physical condition.
“It would swallow the other categories of voters eligible for mail-in voting,” the judges said. “We agree, of course, that a voter can take into consideration aspects of his health and his health history that are physical conditions in deciding whether, under the circumstances, to apply to vote by mail because of disability. We disagree that lack of immunity, by itself, is one of them.”
“I applaud the Texas Supreme Court for ruling that certain election officials’ definition of ‘disability’ does not trump that of the Legislature, which has determined that widespread mail-in balloting carries unacceptable risks of corruption and fraud,” Paxton said. “Election officials have a duty to reject mail-in ballot applications from voters who are not entitled to vote by mail.”
Election law established by the Texas Legislature generally requires in-person voting, and allows mail balloting only for certain limited groups, including those who are 65 or older, have a disability or illness that render them unable to vote in-person, those who will be out of the county on election day, and those who are confined in jail but otherwise eligible.
The Texas election code defines disability as a “sickness or physical condition” that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of “needing personal assistance or injuring the voter’s health.”
A voter ill with COVID-19 and who meets those requirements may apply for a ballot by mail.