The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a legal challenge to a Texas law requiring voters under 65 to provide justification for voting by mail.
The court's April 22 order list shows that the petition for a writ of certiorari in the case originating from a 2020 federal lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party and several voters was denied. The lawsuit aimed to lift age-based limitations on no-excuse mail-in voting in Texas.
Currently, Texas law permits mail-in voting without a qualifying excuse, such as illness, only for individuals aged 65 and older. The petitioners argued that this law violated the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits denying the right to vote based on age.
With the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal, the Texas law remains in effect, marking a victory for proponents of election integrity.
The Supreme Court's choice not to consider the appeal has broader implications. Six other states—Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee—have comparable laws that allow older voters to request absentee ballots without needing to provide justification.
The plaintiffs sought to overturn Texas' age-based restrictions on no-excuse mail-in voting, citing public health concerns stemming from the Covid-19 outbreak.
In May 2020, a district court judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, temporarily halting the Texas law. However, Texas officials, led by Attorney General Ken Paxton, appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which suspended the district court's ruling pending the appeal process. Subsequently, the plaintiffs petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the district court's decision to halt enforcement of the age-based restrictions on no-excuse mail-in voting or to review the case. However, the Supreme Court declined both requests.
Ultimately, the 5th Circuit voided the lower court’s May 2020 order in full. This led the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in the district court, this time asserting other claims, including ones of racial discrimination under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and arguing that the age limitations on mail-in ballots violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th and 26th Amendments.
In a July 2022 order, the district court judge dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims, leading to another appeal before the 5th Circuit, which ultimately affirmed the district court’s decision to dismiss.
The plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2023, asking the high court to declare Texas’s age-based voting law unconstitutional.
The court opted not to review the plaintiffs' appeal, thereby upholding Texas's age restrictions and rejecting efforts to expand no-excuse mail-in voting in the Lone Star state.
