Texas moves to block ruling against element of SB1

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is moving to block a ruling that has struck down what is described as a major element of Senate Bill 1.

This is the Texas election integrity law passed in 2021, but a federal district court ruled part of it was unconstitutional on Friday.

“I will immediately move to block this unacceptable ruling so Texas can continue to defend its elections from bad actors seeking to undermine the ballot box,” said Attorney General Paxton. “A ruling—weeks prior to an election— preventing my office from investigating potential election violations is deeply troubling and risks undermining public trust in our political process.”

SB 1 aims to increase safeguards to prevent ballot harvesting and instituted additional protections to ensure free and fair elections. However, a federal district court judge ruled that such provisions of the law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The judge also banned the Office of the Attorney General from opening investigations into instances of election fraud under the portion of election code enjoined by the decision.