Attorney General Paxton today applauded the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas for dismissing a case in which voter Rachel Miller, joined by the Texas Democratic Party, the DNC, the DSCC and the DCCC, erroneously argued against a Texas election law that governs the order in which candidates appear on the ballot. In today’s order, the court ruled that ballot order does not prevent any citizens from voting and does not affect a candidate’s chances of winning an election.
“I applaud the court for dismissing this case and preserving Texas election law,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Ballot Order Statute clearly operates within the law. I will continue working tirelessly to ensure that our election laws are followed properly and our democratic process operates safely, freely, and fairly.”
In 1963, the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 61, also known as the Ballot Order Statute, which requires that candidates be arranged on ballots “in descending order of the number of votes received statewide by each party’s candidate for governor in the most recent gubernatorial general election, beginning on the left with the party whose candidate received the highest number of votes.”
Read a copy of the order here.