Texas AG Paxton Tells MSNBC ‘Fear of Coronavirus’ Isn’t Enough To Allow Mail-In Voting

A federal judge was wrong to rule that “fear of coronavirus” is a valid reason for Texas voters to seek seek mail-in ballots, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday.

“The law is pretty clear. It doesn’t allow for people to get mail-in ballots for fear of coronavirus or anything else, fear of being hit by a car on the way to vote. We trust our voters to do the right thing,” Paxton said in an interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and Katy Tur.

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that voters should be able to qualify for mail-in ballots regardless of age if they’re worried about showing up to vote. Paxton said in a statement that he would appeal the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Tur took issue with Paxton’s position. “You just compared getting coronavirus by getting hit by a car,” she fired back. “Do you believe that’s a fair comparison? … There are people in your population that are under the age of 65 who are at risk, who have underlying medical conditions, that put their lives in danger from getting this disease.”

Paxton insisted voters would have ample opportunity to vote regardless of their right to request mail-in ballots. “No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying the governor has just recently changed the dates for voting. Instead of 10 days of early voting, he’s given 20 days of early voting. … We surely want to make sure we have as safe of voting locations as we can, just like we have open grocery stores and restaurants. Nothing’s guaranteed.”