The contest over Texas' election integrity laws and the practice of ballot harvesting continues to see-saw in the courtrooms. Attorney General Ken Paxton, representing the Lone Star state, has managed to hit a temporary pause on a district court's ruling that put a stop to the enforcement of a specific section of Senate Bill 1. This section in contention criminalizes paid vote harvesting. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Paxton's emergency request for a temporary stay on the injunction, which will last only until October 10, as the Attorney General's office announced.
After the district court decision came down, cease any investigations into alleged ballot harvesting schemes were ordered to the Office of the Attorney General. With early voting a mere month away, and counties having already dispatched absentee ballots, the temporary stay serves as a stopgap measure that allows Paxton to continue investigations—albeit briefly. Paxton appealed to the Fifth Circuit following the refusal by the district court to stay its own decision. They have agreed to keep the wheels of Paxton's probe turning, at least for a few days more.
"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," Attorney General Paxton stated, emphasizing the proximity of the polling date and the importance he places on the function of his office. "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," Paxton expounded, as noted in a statement from his office's release.
