The U.S. Supreme Court declined to disturb the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding a sweeping Texas election security law banning paid vote harvesting.
Senate Bill 1, passed in 2021, aimed to extensively reform election security and eliminate paid vote harvesting with increased criminal penalties for offenses.
Vote harvesting is the practice of collecting and returning completed ballots, which can be used as a cover for voter fraud and voter coercion. Paid harvesters are often intent on delivering results for a specific candidate or measure.
The legislation followed months of contentious debate, including a walkout by Democrat lawmakers who attempted to prevent a vote on the bill.
After its passage, multiple left-wing plaintiffs—including La Unión del Pueblo Entero and the League of Women Voters of Texas—sued Texas officials, claiming the law was vague and infringed on First Amendment rights.
Federal District Judge Xavier Rodriguez agreed with the plaintiffs, blocking enforcement right before the 2024 election and prohibiting investigations into potential vote harvesting schemes by Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office.
Paxton said he would “immediately move to block this unacceptable ruling” and that “a ruling—weeks prior to an election—preventing my office from investigating potential election violations is deeply troubling and risks undermining public trust in our political process.”
Paxton quickly secured a temporary stay, allowing the law to remain in effect while the case proceeded.
On February 12, 2026, the Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, concluding the law was “in accordance with a constitutional design that aspires to maintain free and secure elections.”
The judges also cited The Federalist Papers referencing “the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried,” and noted that the plaintiffs were “a group of organizations engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts that could be construed as illegal vote harvesting.”
By declining to hear the subsequent appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court let the Fifth Circuit’s ruling stand, allowing Texas to continue enforcing the election security measure.
