HOUSTON — Less than a week before Election Day, Republicans have filed another lawsuit to stop drive-thru voting in Harris County.
In-car voting booths have remained open after similar claim was rejected by the Texas Supreme Court last week.
The new petition asks the court to reject votes already cast illegally through drive-thru voting.
Voting is at the center of several cases playing out in the courts. There have been lawsuits filed by republicans and democrats.
In the last month, KHOU 11 has reported on legal battles involving voting by mail, extended early voting, drive-thru voting and mask requirements at polling places.
Why is this election so litigious?
“Well, I think the simple answer is it’s a close election,” said KHOU 11 political analyst Bob Stein.
It’s a contentious election in the year of the coronavirus, so how, when and where people vote is changing.
Many of those changes are being challenged in court. Just this week, the Texas Supreme Court sided with Governor Greg Abbott only allowing one ballot drop-off location per county.
Stein said lawsuits surrounding mail-in voting are still unresolved, especially in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“If Biden wins one or two of those states by less than five percentage points, I believe it will go to the Supreme Court. This will be the second election in this century that might be determined by the justices,” Stein said.
In Texas, mail-in ballots must be postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day and need to be received no later than 4 p.m. the following day to be counted.