Texas AG Can Keep Probes Going Into Alleged Vote Harvesting

Though a lower court found a Texas law impacting how voter outreach groups operate was too vague, a conservative-leaning appeals court stepped in.

The most conservative appellate court in the nation handed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a victory on Tuesday when it ruled that he can continue probing allegations of vote harvesting, a move activists say is an effort to intimidate Latino voters.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a September decision by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez that stopped, albeit temporarily, a provision passed by the Texas Senate. In an omnibus bill known as S.B. 1, the state Senate had made it a felony for voter outreach organizations to assist people “in the presence of the ballot” or during the voting process. Under the Texas election code, this could be considered “compensating” someone for their vote.

As HuffPost previously reported, Paxton’s harvesting probe has led armed authorities to the door of a Democratic candidate for the Texas House and to the home of Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon, as well as to several elderly members of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC.

Rodriguez had ruled in September that the new restrictions and criminal penalties in S.B. 1 were overly vague. He also found that they potentially infringed on the groups’ First and 14th Amendment rights.

The penalty in Texas for so-called ballot harvesting, or the collection of ballots for distribution to polling places, is 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.