[The federal judge dismissed the case for lack of standing and because it was untimely. He also did not seem to agree on the merits, at least with regard to early voting. However, he commented that, had the plaintiffs had standing, he might grant an order preventing drive-through voting on election day, because the statute governing election day is different.]
Important to note that neither the Texas nor Harris County Republican Parties were involved in this lawsuit. This lawsuit was filed by perennial election litigant Steve Hotze and three Republican candidates: Wendell Champion, who is running against Sheila Jackson Lee for Congress, Sharon Hemphill, who is running for judge of the 80th District Court, and Steve Toth, who is running for re-election to the state house of representatives. I can see why Hotze, Hemphill, and Toth lack standing in a suit under federal law when they are not running for federal office, but I’m not sure why Champion lacks standing.
Honestly, I wish they had not filed this suit. It doesn’t help anyone and is giving the Republican Party a black eye by association. This lawsuit is severely unpopular. Moreover, neither Champion’s nor Toth’s elections are likely to be decided by whether these drive-thru votes are counted. Champion will probably lose by a large margin and Toth will likely win by a large margin. Hemphill’s election, which is county-wide, might possibly be close, but she’s running for a state office in an election is governed purely by state law, and the Texas Supreme Court has already spoken.