MALDEF STATEMENT ON FEDERAL JUDGE’S DECISION TO BLOCK PART OF TEXAS’S VOTER SUPPRESSION LAW SB1

SAN ANTONIO –   A federal judge ruled that a portion of a controversial Texas election law that limits the ability of organizations to talk to mail-in ballot voters is unconstitutional. The judge immediately blocked the provisions of SB1 that impose criminal penalties on people advocating for measures or candidates to voters in the presence of mail-in ballots. He did not rule on the other challenged portions of the law known as SB1.

TIMELINE OF TEXAS’S VOTER SUPPRESSION LEGISLATION SB1

Following the 2020 Presidential election dozens of states began passing bills with provisions that restricted voting rights. Texas was one of those states. The voter suppression legislation known as SB1 imposes new ID requirements on elderly and disabled mail voters, prevents election officials from reigning in unruly partisan poll watchers, limits community-based voter outreach, and makes it more difficult for voters to use the assister of their choice.