Appeals court grants stay to Texas AG in mail-in ballot case

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has issued a temporary order that blocks Texas counties from setting up multiple drop-off locations for mail-in ballots. The Fifth District U.S. Court of Appeals on Saturday granted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for an emergency stay of a federal judge’s injunction that blocked Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting counties to just one ballot drop-off location during early voting for the November elections. U.S. District Judge Robert Pittman on Friday said Abbott’s order was unconstitutional. Abbott’s Oct. 1 order allowed only one mail ballot drop-off site per county, no matter its size.