Judge Rules Against Republicans in Drive-Thru Texas Ballot Fight

We haven’t even gotten to election day, and already the godforsaken lawyers have gotten involved.

The 2020 US presidential election will be studied for decades, perhaps longer.  This is a unique and wild event in our history, with out-of-the-ordinary candidates and unprecedented circumstances.

And, as one might expect in such a strange event, there are already plenty of controversial situations unfolding, including a GOP challenge in Texas regarding 127,000 ballots collected at a drive-thru polling station.

The latest federal ruling on that subject is bad news for the Trump campaign.

A federal judge on Monday rejected a last-ditch effort by Republicans to invalidate more than 100,000 ballots cast at new drive-thru voting locations in Democratic-leaning Harris County, Texas, in a case that has been closely watched because of its potential to affect the presidential race.

The judge, Andrew Hanen, said the plaintiffs in the case lack legal standing to challenge the use of 10 drive-thru voting locations set up for the first time this year in the county, which includes the city of Houston.

Hanen’s decision was based on the legal precept that a person filing a lawsuit must show that they were harmed by an action, not just that the action itself may have been illegal.

Hane’s ruling dismissing the challenge, which came just a day before Election Day, is likely to be appealed.

The story has receding plenty of airplay in the infotainment industry, as Texas is considered to be one of the most hotly contested states in the nation this time around.