The Fifth Circuit just handed Texas a major win on ballot harvesting, reversing a lower court and allowing the state’s ban on paid in-person ballot harvesting to take effect.
The ruling clears the way for enforcement of a key provision in S.B. 1, the 2021 election integrity law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R). The statute targets compensated political operatives who interact with voters while they are physically handling ballots.
The law defines “vote harvesting services” as:
“in-person interaction with one or more voters, in the physical presence of an official ballot or a ballot voted by mail, intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure.”
That definition is neither abstract nor open-ended. It zeroes in on in-person conduct that occurs in the presence of a ballot and is intended to influence how that ballot is cast. The statute does not sweep in general political advocacy. It addresses direct interaction with a voter while the ballot itself is being handled.
The enforcement provision leaves little ambiguity. Under the statute, a person commits an offense if he:
“knowingly provides or offers to provide vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation or other benefit.”
Put more plainly, Texas can prohibit someone from being paid to hover over a voter while a ballot is being completed and steer the voter toward a preferred candidate or measure.
Before the law ever took effect, the district court struck it down on its face, accepting arguments that it was vague and burdened speech. The Fifth Circuit disagreed. The panel concluded that the statute is sufficiently clear and that Texas has a compelling interest in safeguarding election integrity, particularly in the mail-in voting context where opportunities for abuse are harder to detect.
The panel then pointed to actual enforcement data, noting:
Between 2004 and 2021, 72 percent of all election prosecutions undertaken by the Texas Attorney General involved mail ballot fraud.
That is not a theoretical concern. It is a documented pattern. And it undercuts the argument that Texas was trying to regulate a problem that does not exist.
The Supreme Court has already recognized that fraud is a real risk with mail-in voting. The Fifth Circuit leaned on that precedent and concluded Texas is well within its constitutional authority to draw this line.
Attorney General Ken Paxton called it a “major victory for election integrity.”
WIN: This is a major victory for election integrity. Thankful to the court. https://t.co/KWs9vW4Fms
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) February 13, 2026
Gov. Abbott noted that he signed the law criminalizing paid in-person ballot harvesting and that the appeals court has now overturned the lower court’s ruling.
I signed a law criminalizing paid in-person ballot harvesting in elections.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 13, 2026
A trial court ruled against me.
Today the Federal Court of Appeals overturned that erroneous ruling and allowed the law to take effect.
Ballot harvesting is a crime in Texas.
We will win the fight to… https://t.co/tupt5ukBHI
I signed a law criminalizing paid in-person ballot harvesting in elections.
A trial court ruled against me.
Today the Federal Court of Appeals overturned that erroneous ruling and allowed the law to take effect.
Ballot harvesting is a crime in Texas.
We will win the fight to stop illegal voting & cheating at the ballot box.
This is not about turnout. It is not about volunteers helping voters navigate the process. It is about paid ballot collection operations that place political operatives physically next to voters and their ballots.
The Fifth Circuit just made clear that Texas does not have to tolerate that practice. For voters who want confidence that ballots are cast freely and counted fairly, this ruling is a meaningful and overdue reaffirmation of that principle.
Editor's Note: Despite this win in Texas, Partisan federal judges are hijacking President Trump's agenda and insulting the will of the people.
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