A federal judge threw out a case trying to invalidate 127,000 votes cast with drive-thru ballots in Texas

• A federal judge in Texas ruled on Monday that 127,000 ballots cast at drive-thru locations in Texas are valid.
• The day before the election, he rejected a lawsuit brought by Texan GOP candidates that sought to invalidate the votes by arguing that the locations, established by county election officials, weren’t legitimate.
• It’s a victory for voters and another loss for Republicans in a slew of voting lawsuits ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A federal judge has dismissed a case seeking to invalidate 127,000 ballots cast at drive-thru voting locations in Texas.

The decision is a victory for voters in Harris County, which includes Houston and is the most populous county in the state.

With his decision, Judge Andrew Hanen, an appointee of President George W. Bush, apparently reached the same conclusion as the all-Republican Texas state Supreme Court, which rejected an appeal by Republicans to hear a case over the same issue.

Several Republican candidates running for office in Texas, as well as Steven Hotze, a right-wing radio host known for playing down the coronavirus pandemic, brought the lawsuit against Harris County Clerk Chris Hollis.

Hollis established 10 drive-thru voting locations to make it easier for people to vote if they were anxious to enter buildings because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hotze and the candidates — Wendell Champion, Steve Toth, and Sharon Hemphill — argued that such locations could only be established with the explicit approval of the Texas state legislature, and sought to have the 127,000 ballots already cast to be invalidated.

In court on Monday, Hanen ruled that the groups did not have the standing to sue and that the ballots were legally cast.

Hollis garnered a wide range of support in the case. Several Democratic candidates, the Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches, the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, and the League of Women Voters of Texas all fought for the ballots to be counted. Hollis also garnered support from the right, including top GOP election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg and the anti-Trump Republican Group the Lincoln Project.

Texas has experienced extraordinary early turnout this election, surpassing 2016’s total last week with nearly 10 million votes. Though no Democrat has won the presidential race in Texas for decades, it’s close this year: FiveThirtyEight projects a vote share of 50.2% votes for President Donald Trump and 48.9% for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Expanded Coverage Module: insider-voter-guide