Nearly 127,000 Drive-Thru Votes in Texas Saved by Federal Judge Ruling

(Photo : Sergio Flores/Getty Images) A voter watches as a poll worker drops his ballot into a secure box at a ballot drop off location on October 13, 2020 in Austin, Texas.

Nearly 127,000 drive-thru votes in Texas were almost tossed out if it weren't for a federal judge's decision Monday.

A conservative activist and three Republican candidates in Texas wanted to throw away the drive-thru votes in Texas' Harris County, according to Texas Tribune.

Harris is Texas' most populous and largely Democratic county.

The decision to retain the drive-thru votes in Harris followed two earlier decisions by the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court.

Both of the earlier decision also rejected similar efforts by the GOP challenging the validity of votes from the county.

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The ruling, made by George W. Bush appointee Judge Andrew Hanen, appeared to clear the way for counting the drive-thru ballots on Election Day.

Lawsuit Against Drive-Thru Votes

According to CBS News, the lawsuit asked to invalidate votes cast at drive-thru sites.

Officials established these locations to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

It was a major last-minute challenge to the voting rules, so the Republican plaintiffs asked for an appeal to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Hanen said he rejected the case because the plaintiffs did not argue enough how they could be harmed if the drive-thru votes were counted.

For him, counting the votes play a part in balancing the harms of his decision.

He said people have been using the drive-thru tents since mid-October and the petition to invalidate the votes was only filed last week, reported CNN.

The judge said he did not find the concern "time" since plans for drive-thru voting have been going for almost the entirety of the summer.

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"And to file it late last week, I find that not to be timely and that therefore the likelihood of success does not weigh," he said.

He also added that he ruled against the lawsuit since thousands have already voted using the drive-thru tents. Pulling out drive-thru ballots could have a striking impact on Harris County.

It has ten drive-thru voting sites where roughly 10% of in-person votes were cast during the state's early period.

Ultimately, Judge Hanen rejected the suit because of a technical matter.

Judge Hanen also noted that the 5th Circuit might think differently about the case if it reaches them.

Judge Warns About Casting Drive-Thru Votes

Despite rejecting the suit, Judge Hanen said he would have shut down the drive-thru polling places during Election Day.

He said the tents used as voting sites don't qualify as voting inside a "building," a requirement of state election law.

 "If I were voting tomorrow ... I would not vote in a drive-thru just out of my concern as to whether that's illegal or not," he said.

He also said the county should maintain all drive-thru voting records just in case the 5th Circuit disagrees.

But Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said drive-thru votes can still be cast on Election Day.

"We will have drive-thru voting open tomorrow. We will count those votes," Hollins said. "And we want to make clear that voter access in Texas and in America is a constitutional right that we will protect."