Opinion ID: 4576942
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Scrutiny Analysis

Text: As the panel majority observes, there remains a question of what level of scrutiny the district court should have applied to § 82.003. In McDonald, the Supreme Court applied rational-basis review to a law burdening the right to vote by mail. 394 U.S. at 808–09. 3 But in Anderson v. Celebrezee, 460 U.S. 780 (1983) and Burdick v. Takusi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992), the Supreme Court articulated a framework that “applies strict scrutiny to a State’s law that 2 The burden is severe. During the primaries, the pandemic led to a shortage in polling workers as individuals seek to avoid exposure to COVID-19. Elections Adm’rs and Cty. Br. at 23. Moreover, “securing an adequate number of polling places has been a challenge” since facilities that normally serve as election precincts are not large enough to accommodate social distancing. Id. This in turn has led to crowding and long lines at the polls, which increased the risk of exposure to the virus. Id. 22–23. And more people have gotten sick. For instance, following the Wisconsin primary, health officials identified 52 people who tested positive for COVID-19 after either voting in person or working at a polling site. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Br. at 12 (citing The Latest: 52 Positive Cases Tied to Wisconsin Election, The Associated Press (Apr. 28, 2020), https://apnews.com/b1503b5591c682530d1005e58ec8c267). Other individuals may have contracted the virus while voting, but were never tested. There is reason to think that forcing millions of voters under the age of 65 to vote in person on November 3, 2020 may place them in significant danger. 3 In addition to the reasons offered by the panel majority for why rational basis may not be the correct standard of review here, I agree with then Chief Judge Frank Coffin who opined: “It is difficult to believe that [the Twenty-Sixth Amendment] contributes no added protection to that already offered by the Fourteenth Amendment” for age discrimination. See Walgren v. Bd. of Selectmen of Town of Amherst, 519 F.2d 1364, 1367 (1st Cir. 1975). Consequently, a heightened standard of review is likely warranted here. 47 Case: 20-50407 Document: 00515602091 Page: 48 Date Filed: 10/14/2020 No. 20-50407 severely burdens ballot access and intermediate scrutiny to a law that imposes lesser burdens.” Esshaki v. Whitmer, 813 F. App’x 170, 171 (6th Cir. 2020). Even if strict scrutiny is not the appropriate standard to be applied here, as the district court applied to Plaintiffs’ Twenty-Sixth Amendment claim, Defendants have not identified an interest in the application of § 82.003 during the pandemic that would allow that application to withstand any level of judicial review. Defendants argue that Texas’s interest in preventing voter fraud justifies its limitations of voting by mail to individuals 65 years or older, but they do not present any evidence, let alone argue, that voters 64 years or younger present any more risk of committing voter fraud than those over that age threshold. Indeed, the risk of fraud is exceedingly rare. As the district court found, between 2005 and 2018, there were just 73 prosecutions of voter fraud in Texas out of millions of votes casted. In twothirds of the states, any qualified voter can vote absentee without providing an excuse. National Conference of State Legislatures, Voting Outside the polling Place: Absentee, All-Mail and Other Voting at Home Options, https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-andearly-voting.aspx. However, “[n]one of these states have experienced widespread fraud as a result of mail-in voting.” NAACP Legal Defense Fund Br. 16 n.18 (citing The Brennan Center, The False Narrative of Vote-by-Mail Fraud, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/falsenarrative-vote-mail-fraud). Hence, I am not convinced that allowing the district court’s order to stand would cause “widespread voter fraud and election chaos.” See Tarrant Cty. GOP Br. 1–2. To the extent there is any risk of voter fraud, Texas has mechanisms in place to protect the integrity of its elections. For instance, to obtain an absentee ballot, a Texas voter must provide identifying information, under penalty of perjury, that allows election officials to confirm the applicant is eligible to vote. See Elections Adm’rs and Cty. Br. 10 (citing Tex. Elec. Code 48 Case: 20-50407 Document: 00515602091 Page: 49 Date Filed: 10/14/2020 No. 20-50407 § 84.001). Texas also has a variety of criminal sanctions available to deter any misuse of absentee ballots. See, e.g., Tex. Elec. Code § 84.0041 (providing that a person is liable for “intentionally caus[ing] false information to be provided on an application for ballot by mail”), 276.013 (providing that an individual is liable for knowingly or intentionally causing a ballot to be obtained under false pretenses). Given the dearth of evidence of voter fraud and the ample tools available to promote election integrity, Defendants have not identified a legitimate government interest in enforcing § 82.003 within the context of a global pandemic.