Good news for Texas voters

A federal judge in Texas on Friday barred officials from enforcing Governor Greg Abbott's order that would limit the number of mail in voting drop off boxes to one per county. Civil rights and voting rights groups sued Abbott over the order last week. Abbott said the move was designed to "strengthen voting safety in Texas." But Judge Robert Pitman said the directive imposed a "burden on an already vulnerable voting population that is somewhere between 'slight' and 'severe.'"

[...]

Harris County, a 1,777-square-mile region that's home to Houston and is the country's third largest county, had established 11 drop off locations before the governor issued his order.

In a previous court filing, the Harris County Clerk noted that the lone drop off site "could be more than fifty miles away" for some voters. Some activists also raised concerns that the reduced locations could disproportionately affect low-income voters and voters of color.

[...]

"To the extent that this Court's injunction to reinstate the ballot return centers does potentially cause confusion, the Court is satisfied that it would be minimal and outweighed by the increase in voting access," Pitman wrote. The judge's ruling could be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

  CBS

Wouldn't that be an ever bigger asshole move this close to November 3? So, they'll probably do it.

UPDATE 10/28, less than a week to election day:  It went straight to the Texas Supreme Court:  go ahead and suppress those votes.