Selendy Gay filed an amicus brief on behalf of disABILITYsa and New Disabled South in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the appeal of the voting rights case United States v. Paxton. In this case, the United States Department of Justice and private plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU Voting Rights Project, ACLU-Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, Asian American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Disability Rights Texas, and Jenner & Block LLP, successfully challenged a Texas law.
The brief argues in support of the plaintiffs who obtained an injunction against the state law on the grounds that it violates a federal prohibition on imposing voting and voter registration requirements that are “immaterial” to determining whether a person is qualified to vote. The ruling reflected the fact that Texas could not justify its laborious application scheme as relevant to establishing voter identification and instead have designed a system that creates opportunities for technical disqualification of both mail-in ballots and applications to receive them.
Selendy Gay filed the amicus brief on behalf of two Texas-based disability rights organizations who presented the circuit with their concerns – grounded in evidence elicited at trial – that access to mail-in ballots is critical for people with disabilities who otherwise encounter significant barriers to voting in person. They further argue that the onerous and irrational requirements of the Texas law created new obstacles for people with disabilities who risk disenfranchisement as a result.
Read the amicus brief here.
