Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a temporary stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, blocking a district court decision that enjoined the Office of the Attorney General from investigating illegal ballot harvesting under Senate Bill 1, a Texas election integrity law.
With than a month until early voting starts and after Texas counties already began mailing absentee ballots, the district court enjoined enforcement of the section of SB 1 that bans paid vote harvesting. That ruling also ordered the Office of the Attorney General to cease any investigations into such ballot harvesting schemes. Attorney General Paxton immediately requested that the district court stay the decision. Once the district court refused, he appealed to the Fifth Circuit which has now granted a temporary stay until October 10.
“Blocking our ability to investigate certain election crimes would have been a serious disruption to the electoral landscape with only a month left before Election Day,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Texas must be allowed to protect its elections from ballot harvesting schemes. The Fifth Circuit has now temporarily stayed the ruling that would have blocked my ability to conduct these investigations, and I will continue to use every tool available to secure our elections.”
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