The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld Texas’s ban on paid ballot harvesting, reversing a lower court decision that had struck down the election-integrity safeguard.
The ruling stems from a long-running legal battle over Texas Senate Bill 1, the state’s 2021 election reform law.
Left-leaning civil rights groups, including La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), challenged multiple provisions of the statute, claiming violations of the Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and federal disability law.
Central to the dispute was Texas’s ban on compensated ballot harvesting, the practice of paying third parties to collect and return voters’ mail ballots.
A federal district court previously ruled the prohibition violated the First Amendment.
On February 12, the Fifth Circuit overturned that decision in unequivocal terms, writing that “the judgment of the district court is REVERSED.”
Court Reinforces Core Election Safeguards
The contested provision makes it illegal to receive payment for collecting or delivering ballots on behalf of voters.
The appellate ruling aligns with several earlier Fifth Circuit decisions in the same case that repeatedly sided with Texas’s election-security measures.
Over the past two years, the court has:
• Reversed orders forcing disclosure of legislative communications
• Upheld Texas’s ID-number requirement for absentee ballot applications and envelopes
• Affirmed disclosure rules and sworn oaths for ballot assistants
• Rejected claims that the compensation ban conflicts with federal voting law
Republican organizations, including the Harris County Republican Party, Dallas County Republican Party, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and National Republican Congressional Committee, successfully intervened to defend the law after a lower court initially blocked their participation.
The Fifth Circuit ruled that those groups had standing because invalidating the statute could harm their electoral interests.
With the compensation ban now upheld, Senate Bill 1 remains largely intact as litigation continues, marking a significant victory for election integrity efforts nationwide.
National Battle Over Ballot Harvesting Intensifies
The decision arrives as ballot-harvesting restrictions become a central issue heading into the 2026 election cycle.
In Congress, Republican lawmakers have introduced measures to curb the practice, including the No Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act.
The bill would deny federal election funding to states that permit third-party ballot collection.
Broader election-security legislation, such as the SAVE Act and MEGA Act, would strengthen voter ID and citizenship verification requirements, though those bills remain pending.
State-level legal fights are also reshaping the landscape:
• A Mississippi conviction under ballot-collection limits is under appeal
• A federal lawsuit in South Carolina challenges absentee-ballot return restrictions
• Maine voters rejected stricter ID and absentee rules in 2025
• Nevada will consider a constitutional voter-ID amendment in 2026
Roughly three dozen states currently allow some form of ballot collection.
However, regulations vary widely, from strict family-only return rules to outright bans on paid collectors.
Momentum Builds for Stronger Election Security
The Fifth Circuit’s ruling delivers a decisive judicial endorsement of Texas’s effort to prevent paid ballot harvesting, long viewed by election-integrity advocates as a vulnerability to coercion, fraud, and outside influence in mail voting.
As federal and state battles continue, the decision signals growing legal support for tighter ballot-handling safeguards designed to protect the integrity of American elections and ensure ballots remain in the hands of lawful voters rather than political operatives.
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