Appeals court issues temporary stay on ruling blocking Texas drop box limit

Just one day after a federal judge blocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) order that designated one absentee ballot drop-off locations per county in the Lone Star state, a U.S. appeals court issued a temporary stay on the limitation ahead of the November election.

Absentee voting is expected to surge this election cycle because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has become a major point of contention between Republicans and Democrats. Abbott says his order was designed to enhance election security because of the increase in mail-in ballots while Democrats argue it's a disguised form of voter suppression. On Friday, a U.S. district judge struck down the order by ruling that the limitation placed an undue burden on older and disabled Texas voters who could be forced to travel further and increase their risk of exposure to the coronavirus, but the state was expected to appeal, and the limitation will go forward for now.

Another federal judge, meanwhile, tossed out a lawsuit filed by President Trump's re-election campaign, which wanted the court to bar Pennsylvania's use of drop boxes or mobile sites to collect mail ballots that aren't "staffed, secured, and employed consistently within and across" the Keystone State's 67 counties. The campaign is expected to appeal the decision, The Associated Press reports.

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