Federal judge strikes down new Texas restrictions on voter registration

A federal judge on Tuesday night blocked a Texas law passed in 2021 that put new restrictions on people trying to register to vote in the state. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel was celebrated by one of the Latino groups that had sued the state and claimed the law was an attempt to disenfranchise Latino voters. Senate Bill 1111 was passed during the 2021 Texas Legislative session. The bill, which passed the House and Senate on party-line votes, required people who register to vote using a P.O. box to provide proof of a home address to ensure that they vote only in eligible elections.

The bill was signed into law on June 16, 2021. Less than a week later, two Latino groups and a voter rights group sued a group of county election administrators, saying the new law imposes "vague, onerous restrictions on the voter registration process, chilling political participation and further burdening the abilities of lawful voters to cast their ballots to make their voices heard.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later intervened to add himself to the lawsuit in order to defend the law on the state's behalf. The law didn't bar people from using P.O. boxes for voter registration, but required people registering to vote with a post office box to provide other proof, like a drivers license or utility bill, to show proof of address. The lawsuit called that requirement an unfair burden. Part of the lawsuit challenged a section of the law that prohibited people from establishing residence “for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a certain election." That language could lead to unintended consequences, the groups argued.