New Orleans, LA – On, Wednesday, August 4, 2021, attorney Jared Woodfill, Woodfill Law Firm, presented oral arguments in the Hotze v. Hollins lawsuit. A panel of three judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard Woodfill’s arguments on behalf of plaintiffs Steven Hotze, M.D., Congressional Candidate Wendell Champion, Representative Steve Toth, and Judicial Candidate Sharon Hemphill. Woodfill requested that the Court prohibit any future unlimited “drive-thru” voting scheme as was implemented by Democrat Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins during the 2020 General Election.
Woodfill argued that “drive-thru” voting in Texas is illegal because 1) it violates the Texas Election Code, 2) it violates the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, section IV, clause 1, “the times, places and manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the Legislature thereof,” subject to the directives of the Congress, and 3) it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause, “No state shall…deny to any person…, the equal protection of the laws.”
Harris County unilaterally adopted “drive-thru” voting, violating the Texas Election Code. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore, 31 U.S. 98 (2000) set the precedent that a state’s election code must be uniformly applied throughout all counties in that state.
Dr. Hotze stated, “Jared Woodfill did an outstanding job presenting our arguments against the use of ‘drive-thru’ voting in Harris County and across the state. He spoke with authority and confidence, and the judges seemed very receptive to our arguments that the United States Constitution clearly states that only state legislatures have the authority to regulate elections for Congress.
Therefore, the Texas Election Code cannot be modified by any elected official. The Texas Election Code must be administered uniformly across the state. The purpose of the Texas Election Code is to ensure the integrity of elections. Any variance by any county of the Texas Election Code violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause.”
