Judge Blocks Texas Restrictions on Using P.O. Boxes For Voter Registration

Some 5,000 Texans who used a P.O. box as a voter registration address will likely be able to cast a ballot in the state’s midterm elections after a federal judge blocked a 2021 state election law.

Senate Bill 1111 attempted to tighten residency guidelines for Texas voters, but was struck down this month by U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel, an appointee under former president George W. Bush.

Yeakel, who presides over the Austin Division for the Western District of Texas, found in a summary judgement that the state used vague language in the election law and parts of it failed constitutional scrutiny.

Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the decision last week to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), who authored the election bill.

Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas at the Hilton Anatole Aug. 5, 2022. (Bobby Sanchez/The Epoch Times)

“There is no one that can live inside a P.O. box,” Bettencourt pointed out in a statement earlier this month.

Bettencourt told The Epoch Times he was disappointed in the decision against a “common-sense voter integrity bill.”

The bill required people registering to vote with a P.O. box to show proof of address such as a driver’s license or utility bill.

Some 5,000 people were registered to vote in Harris County alone using a P.O. box in 2020, Bettencourt said.

As of this month, the number is around 4,800 because some of the records were processed before the law was blocked.

The actual number using P.O. boxes to register statewide would make the total higher, he added, saying he expects the number could climb before voter registration ends in October without the law.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (3R) signs Senate Bill 1,

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