{"id":190787,"date":"2024-10-15T19:12:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T23:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=press_release&#038;p=190787"},"modified":"2024-10-15T19:12:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T23:12:02","slug":"victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","title":{"rendered":"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-190787","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"","date_and_time":"2024-10-15 17:00:00","featured_image":"","show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A federal district court ruled Friday, October 11, in a victory for voting rights, that a key provision of Texas\u2019 anti-voter law <a href=\"https:\/\/capitol.texas.gov\/BillLookup\/History.aspx?LegSess=872&amp;Bill=SB1\">Senate Bill 1<\/a> violates federal law. Specifically, the court ruled that the provision, which criminalizes compensated mail-ballot assistance, violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).\r\n\r\nThe lawsuit, filed in 2021 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/txcivilrights.org\/\">Texas Civil Rights Project<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\">老澳门开奖结果<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclutx.org\/\">老澳门开奖结果 of Texas<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aaldef.org\/\">Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.disabilityrightstx.org\/en\/home\/\">Disability Rights Texas<\/a>, and the law firm <a href=\"https:\/\/jenner.com\/\">Jenner &amp; Block LLP<\/a>, challenged numerous provisions of the bill, including that its criminalization of compensated mail-ballot assistance to people with disabilities and limited English proficiency violated Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, which guarantees qualified voters the right to vote with an assistor of their choice. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the <a href=\"https:\/\/my.lwv.org\/texas\">League of Women Voters of Texas<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/organizetexas.org\/\">,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.revuptexas.org\/\">Register, Educate, Vote, &amp; Use your Power - Texas (REV UP Texas),<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ocahouston.org\/\">OCA Greater Houston<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThis ruling follows a decision two weeks ago that impacted S.B. 1\u2019s provisions on canvassing.\r\n\r\n\"This ruling is a victory for voter service organizations like the League whose mission is to empower all voters, especially those with disabilities, first-time voters, and non-English speakers, to fully participate in our democracy,\u201d said <b>Joyce LeBombard (she\/her), president of the League of Women Voters of Texas<\/b>. \u201cVoter engagement is a key part of our work to ensure all Texans can have their voices heard at the ballot box.\"\r\n\r\n\u201cFor the last three years, S.B. 1 has prevented us from providing our members and the community with language voting assistance, making it near-impossible to ensure that AAPI voices are equally represented at the ballot box,\u201d said <b>Deborah Chen (she\/her), OCA-Greater Houston\u2019s civic engagement programs director. <\/b>\u201cWe look forward to resuming our historical practices and ensuring that the AAPI community is able to fully participate in our democracy.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cREVUP is extremely pleased with the court\u2019s ruling holding that S.B. 1\u2019s restrictive assistance provisions violate the Voting Rights Act,\u201d said <b>Bob Kafka <\/b><b>(he\/him)<\/b><b>, state coordinator for REV UP Texas.<\/b> \u201cThe ruling protects the rights of Texas voters with disabilities to get the assistance they need without fear of prosecution. Due to S.B. 1, voters with disabilities faced the impossible choice of either exposing themselves and their assistors to state-jail felony charges or forgoing the assistance they need to exercise the most fundamental of rights, the right to vote. This is a big win for democracy and for the disability community.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThis ruling confirms why it was critical to stop the law that harmed voters who need our assistance the most,\u201d said <b>Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States.<\/b> \u201cLaws like SB1 are egregious and threaten our voter engagement work to ensure that all Americans have equal and fair access to the ballot. The League remains committed to fighting anti-voter laws that place unnecessary barriers on voters that limit their ability to participate in our democracy\"\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is a victory for democracy in Texas\u2013 proof that the fight for voting rights is far from over, but we\u2019re making progress.,\u201d said <b>Rochelle Garza (she\/her), president of the Texas Civil Rights Project<\/b>. \u201cVoting should be accessible for every eligible Texan, and today, we\u2019re a step closer.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cS.B. 1\u2019s criminalization of compensated mail-ballot assistance clearly violates the Voting Rights Act\u2019s guarantee that qualifying voters are entitled to voter assistance from the person of their choice,\u201d said<b> Zach Dolling (he\/him), senior supervising attorney, Voting Rights Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project.<\/b> \u201cThis victory preserves that important right, which is necessary to ensure that voters with disabilities or with limited English proficiency have equal access to the ballot box.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThe law is clear: voters who need assistance can choose who they get it from,\u201d said <b>Dayton Campbell-Harris (he\/him), staff attorney, 老澳门开奖结果 Voting Rights Project.<\/b> \u201cVoters\u2013not the state\u2013make that choice. The court\u2019s ruling confirms that Texas can\u2019t stop voters from exercising their right to choose a grandchild, caregiver, roommate, or other trusted individual to help them vote.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cSince its passage, S.B. 1 has instilled fear in voters requiring assistance and those who graciously offer help, imposing harsh criminal penalties due to restrictive limitations on who can provide that assistance,\u201d said <b>Ashley Harris (she\/her), staff attorney, 老澳门开奖结果 of Texas.<\/b> \u201cWe are grateful that the district court acknowledged these limitations as violations of the Voting Rights Act, affirming that S.B. 1 should never restrict voters\u2019 rights to receive assistance to engage in their most fundamental right.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cMail-in ballots and getting help from a family member or someone else you trust are critical for older voters, disabled voters, and voters with limited English ability, which includes many Asian American immigrants,\u201d said <b>Patrick Stegemoeller (he\/him), staff attorney for voting rights at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)<\/b>. \u201cS.B. 1 has already created a devastating anti-voter chill among community organizations like OCA Greater Houston threatened with punishment for simply helping people, but we hope this win helps thaw that fear and empowers Asian Americans and other marginalized communities to vote \u2014 whether by mail or at the polls.\u201d\r\n\r\nView the ruling <a href=\"https:\/\/link.txcivilrights.org\/SB1-10-2024\">here<\/a>.  "}}],"drupal_node_id":"","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":[46799],"press_releases_related_to_cases":[148627],"spokesperson":[32180],"related_affiliates":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"老澳门开奖结果\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1\",\"name\":\"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-15T23:12:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-15T23:12:02+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"老澳门开奖结果\",\"description\":\"The 老澳门开奖结果 dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","og_site_name":"老澳门开奖结果","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aclu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1","name":"Victory in Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-Voter Law S.B. 1 | 老澳门开奖结果","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-10-15T23:12:02+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-15T23:12:02+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/victory-in-lawsuit-against-texas-anti-voter-law-s-b-1"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/","name":"老澳门开奖结果","description":"The 老澳门开奖结果 dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.","inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/190787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press_release"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/190787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190789,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/190787\/revisions\/190789"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bios\/32180"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/148627"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}