Houston Republic

Despite a reminder from the office of Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton regarding the narrow criteria for drive-thru voting, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo celebrated drive-thru voting at the Kingwood Community Center as being busy. 

Hidalgo released a video via Twitter showing the drive-thru voting operation, stating that one woman was voting drive-through because it was more convenient.

“I just met with a voter, a young mother, she’s voting drive-through and what the poll workers tell me is that we’re seeing that a lot of folks with young children that are coming by to vote right after picking up their children, very convenient for them,” Hidalgo said. “And a lot of seniors are voting drive-thru. It’s convenient, it’s easy for them, some folks with limited mobility, that way they don’t have to get out of the car.”

The Oct. 16, 2020 “Elec­tions Guid­ance Let­ter on Dri­ve-Thru Voting” from Paxton stated that “Curbside voting is not, as some have asserted contrary to Texas law, an option for any and all voters who simply wish to vote from the comfort of their cars when they are physically able to enter the polling place.”

The letter cited Texas Election Code§ 64.009(a), reminding elections officials that “an election official may provide a ballot to a registered voter 'at the polling place entrance or curb' only if the voter is 'physically unable to enter the polling place without personal assistance or likelihood of injuring the voter's health.'"

The Attorney General’s office further reminded that “Fear of COVID-19 does not render a voter physically unable to cast a ballot inside a polling place without assistance.”