Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a major victory for election integrity as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a federal district court ruling that had blocked enforcement of Texas’s ban on ballot harvesting under the Texas Election Integrity Act.
In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1 (“SB 1”) to strengthen election integrity, protect ballot secrecy, and reduce the risk of fraud—especially in the mail-in voting context, where fraud risks are higher and harder to detect. The law specifically targets professional, compensated vote harvesting, making it a crime to knowingly provide or offer to provide “vote harvesting services” in exchange for compensation or other benefit when the activity is intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure. This type of activity is now banned when it is conducted in person and in the physical presence of an official ballot or a voted mail ballot.
On the eve of the 2024 election, a district court declared the section of SB 1 that bans paid vote harvesting unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement. Attorney General Paxton immediately requested that the Fifth Circuit stay that decision pending appeal, which it did. Now, the Fifth Circuit has reversed the district court’s judgment, holding that Texas’s paid vote harvesting ban is fully constitutional, as it is consistent with the First Amendment and does not contain any unconstitutionally vague provisions.
“Texas will not allow our election system to be exploited with paid ballot harvesting schemes that threaten ballot secrecy and invite coercion and fraud,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This is a huge win for Texas voters and for secure, honest elections. We fought hard to keep common-sense protections in place, and I will continue to do everything in my power to defend the integrity of our elections.”
Attorney General Paxton has led a years-long legal battle to defend Texas election integrity laws and set the standard for election integrity defense nationwide. Attorney General Ken Paxton has previously successfully defeated an attempt to challenge Texas’s requirement that voters put their ID number on mail-in ballots and vote-by-mail applications. Attorney General Paxton will continue to defend laws that protect lawful voters, deter fraud, and ensure Texans can trust election outcomes.
To read the opinion, click here.
Article source and photo credit: Texas Attorney General
