The Texas Supreme Court stayed yesterday’s (Thursday’s) Fourteenth Court of Appeals decision to reinstate a temporary restraining order expanding eligibility for mail ballots due to COVID-19. The stay remains in effect pending disposition of the state’s appeal. The Court scheduled a Wednesday hearing on the appellate decision but not the merits of the case.

The effect of the stay is that voters are not eligible to request a mail ballot on the basis of susceptibility to the virus that causes COVID-19. In April, District Judge Tim Sulak (D) ruled that susceptibility is a disability under the Election Code. Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton appealed that decision the same day and has argued that Sulak’s was and should remain stayed pending the appeal.

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