FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alberto Lammers
alammers@luskin.ucla.edu

UCLA VRP Files SCOTUS Petition Against Texas Election Law That Violates the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

A group of voting rights advocates is challenging the constitutionality of the Texas Election Code that infringes on the guarantee against age-based voting discrimination.

WASHINGTON (December 8, 2023) —Plaintiffs represented by the UCLA Voting Rights Project (UCLA VRP) and Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on December 5th, challenging the constitutionality of Texas’s age-based voting restrictions under the 26th Amendment. The petition argues that Texas Election Code § 82.003, which states “A qualified voter is eligible for early voting by mail if the voter is 65 years of age or older on election day,” allows only those over 65 to vote by mail without an excuse, unfairly discriminates against younger voters and undermines the Twenty-Sixth Amendment’s language and clear intent. 

Read the Petition for Writ of Certiorari here.

The outcome of the current petition could significantly influence the accessibility of mail-in voting for younger voters nationwide, a group increasingly dependent on this voting method due to the evolving circumstances of modern voting.

This case, Cascino v Nelson, began in 2020 (as Texas Democratic Party v. Abbott) amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a challenge to Texas’ mail-in voting law. Initially, a trial court granted a favorable ruling, agreeing with the argument for more inclusive absentee voting. However, this decision was later reversed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the law didn’t violate the 26th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously declined to intervene in this suit but noted the significance of the questions raised.

The Plaintiffs – c0-represented by Brazil & Dunn LLP and the Law Office of Dicky Grigg P.C. of Austin, TX; Derfner & Altman LLC of Charleston, SC.; and the Law Office of Martin Golando of San Antonio, TX – seek a ruling that will ensure equal voting rights for all citizens, regardless of age. Their argument centers on the plain text of the 26th Amendment, which unequivocally states that voting rights “shall not be denied or abridged…on account of age.” The Texas law creates an unconstitutional age-based distinction by permitting no-excuse mail-in voting solely for seniors. The interpretation is supported by analogous U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of similarly worded amendments, such as the 15th and 19th Amendments, which made unconstitutional voting discrimination based on race and gender.

Bernadette Reyes, counsel in the case and voting rights counsel at UCLA VRP, said, “We, along with our allied legal partners, stand firm in our commitment to upholding the integrity of our Constitution and the democratic process. We strongly believe that challenging the Texas Election Code is crucial in paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable voting system in the state and across the country for voters of all ages.”

ABOUT THE UCLA VOTING RIGHTS PROJECT

The UCLA Voting Rights Project is the marquee advocacy project of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is focused on voting rights litigation, research, policy, and training. The UCLA Voting Rights Project addresses monumental and overlooked gaps in the field of voting rights: how to train young lawyers and researchers, support the development of new legal and methodological theories for voting rights cases, and how to advance policy work to ensure that there is a new generation of leaders who are pursuing efforts to guarantee all citizens have equal and fair access to our democracy. The project was founded by Chad W. Dunn, J.D., and Matt Barreto, Ph.D. The UCLA Voting Rights Project is located within the Luskin School of Public Affairs.

To learn more about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit latino.ucla.edu/votingrights