Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has obtained a temporary stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which blocks a district court decision that had prevented the Office of the Attorney General from investigating illegal ballot harvesting under Senate Bill 1, known as Texas's election integrity law.
The district court had previously enjoined enforcement of the section of SB 1 that prohibits paid vote harvesting. This ruling also directed the Office of the Attorney General to halt any investigations into such ballot harvesting schemes. With early voting set to begin in just over a month and absentee ballots already being mailed by Texas counties, Attorney General Paxton sought an immediate stay from the district court. After this request was denied, he appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which has now granted a temporary stay effective until October 10.
Attorney General Paxton stated, “Blocking our ability to investigate certain election crimes would have been a serious disruption to the electoral landscape with only a month left before Election Day.” He added, “Texas must be allowed to protect its elections from ballot harvesting schemes. The Fifth Circuit has now temporarily stayed the ruling that would have blocked my ability to conduct these investigations, and I will continue to use every tool available to secure our elections.”