A federal judge in Texas will hold an emergency hearing Monday on a challenge by Republicans to toss out more than 100,000 drive-through ballots in Harris County — a Democratic stronghold.
Harris County is the largest in Texas and the third most populated county nationally.
The ballots that were cast through drive-in voting, which local officials permitted due to the coronavirus pandemic, though not explicitly allowed under state law.
The legal challenge was brought Friday by Steven Hotze, a registered voter in Harris County, Republican state Rep. Steve Toth and Wendell Champion and Sharon Hemphill, who are both on the ballot running as Republicans.
They argue the drive-through votes violate state and federal law, which only allows the curbside voting for the sick and disabled, and they want all the ballots disqualified.
The legal wrangling plays out as Democrats eye a chance to put Texas in their column for the first time since Jimmy Carter won the White House.
The plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, a Bush-appointee, for an emergency injunction just days before the Nov. 3 elections.
He is scheduled to hear the dispute Monday morning.
The hearing in federal court comes after the Texas Supreme Court denied the petition to toss the ballots on Sunday.
It is the latest in a series of legal battles filed in the Lone Star State over mail-in ballots and other election issues. Texas is one of only a handful of states this year requiring a reason to obtain an absentee ballot.
There have been lawsuits challenging signature requirements in the state for absentee ballots as well as the drop-off locations.
In order to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, permitted six extra days of early voting to help keep large crowds from forming at the polls.
Texas has seen the number of early ballots cast this year already outpacing all of the votes in 2016.
It’s one of several states having its election rules decided by the courts just days — and possibly hours — before Nov. 3.
Last week, the Supreme Court permitted Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots up to three days after Election Day, and also didn’t halt North Carolina from counting votes through Nov. 12.
By contrast, in a case out of Wisconsin, the high court batted down a request to allow mail-in votes to be counted through Nov. 9.
Voting rights activists have argued the changing rules in critical swing states — and conflicting court rulings — have confused voters and will likely result in some people not casting ballots.
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