Texas Republicans lose bid to toss drive-thru votes

In Texas, a group of Republicans lost one of two legal challenges they filed hoping to stop drive-through voting in Houston.

On Sunday (November 1) the Texas Supreme Court rejected the request by conservative activist Steve Hotze.

They argued that that drive-through voting violates Texas election law and more than 120,000 votes should be thrown out.

But Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo pointed out that drive-through voting was used in the state's summer runoff election, and was considered legal then, with no objection:

"First, folks should know that we in Harris County have your back no matter who you voted for. We recognize your vote for the treasure that it is, we recognized elections as the cornerstone of our democracy, and we are fighting as hard as we possibly can to protect every single vote that has been cast. "

Meanwhile, a nearly identical case is pending in federal court to be heard on Monday morning.

Harris County is the third most populous county in the U.S. and largely Democrat and has 10 drive-through polling sites that offer a safe alternative to in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Already a record total of over 9 million ballots have been cast in Texas early voting.

While the state is traditionally Republican, polls show a tight race there between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

U.S. election officials are dealing with a series of challenges this year that have raised concerns about the public's confidence in the result.

Trump has repeatedly said that mail-in voting will increase the likelihood of voter fraud, but without any evidence to back up his claim.