Supreme Court declines to review Texas voter assistance restrictions, in blow to civil rights groups
Key takeaways
- Texas in 2021 adopted Senate Bill 1, a measure that included a provision making it a felony crime to compensate someone or receive compensation for assisting a voter with a mail-in ballot.
- The law was promptly challenged in separate lawsuits by La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and other civil rights and voting rights nonprofit organizations, including OCA-Greater Houston.
- LUPE, a nonprofit social services organization, also argued that the group has been forced to turn away members who seek help completing their mail-in ballots due to fear of prosecution.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
The decision is a setback for civil rights and voting rights groups, which argued the state law undermines a section of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) that establishes protections for voters who may require assistance with casting a ballot.
Section 208 guarantees that any voters who need help due to blindness, disability or the inability to read or write may receive assistance by a “person of the voter’s choice,” excluding certain individuals such as employers, supervisors and union officers.
Texas in 2021 adopted Senate Bill 1, a measure that included a provision making it a felony crime to compensate someone or receive compensation for assisting a voter with a mail-in ballot.