Republicans File New Lawsuit to Void Harris County Drive-Thru Votes

They already lost on the issue of drive-thru voting, but that isn’t preventing conservative activist Steve Hotze and three others from trying again. In the latest lawsuit, Hotze, GOP Harris County judicial candidate Sharen Hemphill, GOP congressional candidate Wendell Champion, and State Rep. Steve Toth (R-Woodlands) want the Texas Supreme Court to void all the votes cast by voters using Harris County’s drive-thru voting service. 

Like a previous lawsuit that was rejected by the state’s high court, this latest filing once again argues that the new drive-thru voting implemented by Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins is an illegal expansion of curbside voting, which is available only to those who are physically unable to enter the polling location. 

“Hollins is allowing curbside/drive-thru voting for all 2.37 million registered voters in Harris County. This is a clear and direct violation of his duties,” the petition argued.

Just a week ago, the Texas Supreme Court last week refused to end drive-thru voting. That case did not, specifically, ask for the votes to be voided. That appears to be the only difference between the two lawsuits.