The Texas Tribune—
Texas voters will not be able to select every candidate of a major political party with one punch, a federal appeals court ruled last week, upholding a 2017 state law that ends the popular practice of straight-ticket voting for this year’s general election.
The Texas Legislature acted years ago to end straight-ticket voting in time for the 2020 presidential contest, but a federal judge reinstated the practice earlier this month, citing complications to the voting process caused by the pandemic.
A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision Wednesday, ruling that the law ending the one-punch option should go into effect even as voters and election administrators contend with the coronavirus pandemic, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s “emphasis that courts should not alter election rules on the eve of an election.”
