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Federal judge opens vote-by-mail during pandemic

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 by Elizabeth Pagano

A Tuesday ruling from a federal court has opened vote-by-mail for Texans during the Covid-19 pandemic. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with the plaintiffs, which include the Texas Democratic Party, in an interpretation that counts a lack of immunity from Covid-19 and fear of infection at polling stations as a “disability” under state law. In his ruling, Biery ordered that all Texas voters who wish to vote by mail to avoid transmission of the virus may request an absentee ballot, with the ruling to remain in effect until a judgment is issued or the pandemic subsides. “There are some among us who would, if they could, nullify those aspirational ideas to return to the not-so-halcyon and not-so-thrilling days of yesteryear of the Divine Right of Kings, trading our birthright as a sovereign people for a modern mess of governing pottage in the hands of a few and forfeiting the vision of America as a shining city upon a hill,” Biery wrote. Read the entire ruling below.

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