Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has won a significant legal battle over the state’s election integrity laws, as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked enforcement of a ban on paid ballot harvesting. The reversal, decided on February 13, 2026, upholds a key provision of Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), passed by the Texas Legislature in 2021.
SB 1 aimed to strengthen election security, particularly concerning mail-in voting, which officials identified as more vulnerable to fraud. The contested provision specifically criminalizes the practice of providing or offering to provide “vote harvesting services” – the act of collecting and submitting ballots on behalf of others – in exchange for compensation. The law prohibits this activity when conducted in person with an official ballot or a voted mail ballot.
Prior to the Fifth Circuit’s decision, a district court had deemed the ban on paid vote harvesting unconstitutional and issued an injunction preventing its enforcement on the eve of the 2024 election. Attorney General Paxton immediately appealed the ruling, securing a temporary stay from the Fifth Circuit pending the outcome of the appeal.
The Fifth Circuit’s ruling affirms that Texas’s ban on compensated ballot collection is consistent with the First Amendment and contains no unconstitutionally vague language. “Texas will not allow our election system to be exploited with paid ballot harvesting schemes that threaten ballot secrecy and invite coercion and fraud,” Paxton stated. “This is a huge win for Texas voters and for secure, honest elections. We fought hard to keep common-sense protections in place, and I will continue to do everything in my power to defend the integrity of our elections.”
This victory marks the latest in a series of legal defenses led by Attorney General Paxton to protect Texas election laws. He previously successfully defended the state’s requirement that voters include an ID number on mail-in ballots and applications, a challenge brought by groups concerned about voter access.
The legal battle over SB 1 has been ongoing since its passage. In a separate case, the Fifth Circuit granted Paxton a stay allowing enforcement of the law in October 2024, as reported by Hoodline. The U.S. Department of Justice has also been involved in litigation concerning Texas election laws, as evidenced by a case, United States v. Paxton, currently before the Fifth Circuit.
Attorney General Paxton has indicated his commitment to continuing to defend laws designed to protect lawful voters, deter fraud, and maintain public trust in election outcomes. The office has not announced any further legal challenges to Texas election laws at this time.
