On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the Texas Supreme Court, and a motion for emergency injunction in the Federal District Court were filed by Houston attorney Jared Woodfill, Woodfill Law Firm PC, on behalf of plaintiffs Steven Hotze, M.D., Congressional Candidate Wendell Champion, Representative Steve Toth, and Judicial Candidate Sharon Hemphill, requesting that both Courts stop the illegal, unlimited “drive-thru” voting scheme devised by Democrat Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins.
Both legal actions are judiciable, based on 1) a violation of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, section IV, clause 1, “the times, places and manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the Legislature thereof,” subject to the directives of the Congress, and 2) the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause, “No state shall…deny to any person…, the equal protection of the laws.”
No governor, nor state supreme court, nor county official can change a state’s election laws. The U.S. Constitution is clear on this. Only election laws passed by each state legislature are binding and mandated.
Harris County has unilaterally adopted “drive-thru” voting, violating the Texas Election Code. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore, 31 U.S. 98 (2000) set the precedent that a state’s election code must be uniformly applied throughout all counties in that state.
In both the petition before the Texas Supreme Court and the lawsuit in Federal District Court, the plaintiffs are asking the Courts to 1) grant a preliminary mandatory injunction to Harris County Clerk Hollins’ Office, requiring all memory cards from the ten “drive-thru” locations be secured, and not downloaded into the Tally Machine, 2) reject any votes that were cast in violation of the Texas Election Code, 3) order the Harris County Clerk’s Office to review and ensure that all curbside voting applications were submitted in strict compliance with the Texas Election Code, and 4) grant a permanent injunction against Hollins and the Harris County Clerk’s Office, prohibiting further universal “drive-thru” voting.
Dr. Hotze stated, “The United States Constitution clearly states that only state legislatures have the authority to regulate elections for Congress. Therefore, the Texas Election Code cannot be modified by Governor Abbott, the Texas Supreme Court, or Chris Hollins. The Texas Election Code must be administered uniformly in every county throughout the state. Any votes cast in violation of the Texas Election Code cannot be counted. The Texas Election Code was written specifically to ensure the integrity of elections. Any variance by any county of the Texas Election Code violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause.”
Dr. Hotze further stated, “Based upon the precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, we are confident that we will be successful in our legal efforts to stop illegal and universal ‘drive-thru’ voting in Harris County, and have all votes, that were cast illegally, invalidated.”
