Lincoln Project intercedes in lawsuit over Texas ballot drop-box order

Image via AP.

The Lincoln Project, the organization of Republicans, former Republicans and conservatives formed to oppose President Donald Trump‘s reelection, is moving from advertising to litigation, seeking to stop a Texas Republican plan limiting vote-by-mail drop boxes.

The Lincoln Project has filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit in The Lonestar State that is challenging a proclamation from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that limits mail ballot drop boxes to one per county. Opponents of the proclamation, led by the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, has sued to have the proclamation invalidated.

The lawsuit argues the proclamation is unconstitutional and creates a significant burden on voters.

“It’s blatant voter suppression, and we won’t tolerate it. That’s why we’re throwing our full support behind the plaintiffs,” Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, stated in a news release.

In his court defense of the one-box rule, Abbott argued he put the limit in place because counties that planned to use multiple dropbox sites would have “inconsistent safeguards to preserve the integrity of the election, such as a lack of poll watchers overseeing ballot deliveries,” according to a Bloomberg report. The Governor, echoing claims by Trump, claims that vote-by-mail fraud has been a “frequent and enduring problem in Texas,” according to the filing.

The case is being heard in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas.

The Lincoln Project argues Abbott’s order severely restricts the ability of numerous Texans to return their ballots, disenfranchising the elderly, women, and people of color in particular.

As a Republican-led organization, The Lincoln Project contends it was particularly compelled to become involved in this case, given that those most impacted are older, suburban and rural voters, and those most vulnerable to disease; tending to be largely Republican.

“While the number of counties that planned to have multiple ballot drop boxes is relatively small, those that do represent some of the largest population centers in the state. Consequently, those counties also contain a large percentage of the likely Republican voters targeted by The Lincoln Project. The list includes Harris, Travis, and Fort Bend Counties,” The Lincoln Project brief argues.

Still, The Lincoln Project blasted the position of the Republican Party.

“Gov. Abbott is scared, as he should be. He knows the Republican Party has been severely kneecapped by Donald Trump’s ineptitude in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting chaos,” Galen stated in the release. “This is a last-ditch effort to ensure legitimate votes are not counted so that he can try to save a couple of his cronies.”

The Lincoln Project calls itself a group of prominent Republicans working to oppose reelection of Trump and those who support him.