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Court Case

LUPE v. State of Texas

The Brennan Center and co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit challenging an omnibus voter suppression law enacted in Texas in 2021, Senate Bill 1. We represent voters, election workers, community groups, civil rights and voting organizations, and faith-based groups.

February 23, 2026
September 3, 2021
Voting & Elections
February 23, 2026
September 3, 2021
Voting & Elections

Voting in Texas has never been easy. 

However, on August 31, 2021, the Texas legislature made it even harder to vote by passing S.B. 1, an omnibus voter suppression bill.

Among other things, S.B. 1 makes it more difficult for voters who have limited English proficiency, disabilities, and/or less formal education to receive assistance with voting at the polling place, curbside, or by mail. S.B. 1 also takes aim at community and faith-based groups by criminalizing non-partisan voter turnout activities as “vote harvesting” and severely restricts election officials by creating a new state jail felony for providing mail ballot applications to eligible voters who do not request them. Additionally, S.B. 1 makes it more difficult for poll workers to preserve order and prevent violence at the polls by limiting their authority over partisan poll watchers. Finally, it represents a backlash against pro-voter innovations in Harris County by banning drive-thru and 24-hour voting.

Our Claims

On September 3, 2021, the Brennan Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Texas, challenging S.B. 1 under the U.S. Constitution and other federal law on behalf of Friendship-West Baptist Church, the Anti-Defamation League, Texas Impact, La Unión Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, William C. Velasquez Institute, Texas Hispanics Organized for Political Education, Mexican American Bar Association of Texas, FIEL Houston, Jolt Action, Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria, and James Lewin. (Longoria and her claims were subsequently removed from the case and filed in a separate lawsuit, Longoria v. Paxton.)

Plaintiffs assert that S.B. 1 violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) because it limits voters’ ability to choose their assistors and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because it denies equal access to the franchise for voters who have disabilities. Plaintiffs also claim that S.B. 1 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments because S.B. 1's restrictions on so-called “vote harvesting” criminalize protected speech and are overly broad and unconstitutionally vague. Plaintiffs also allege that S.B. 1’s new restrictions on poll workers violate the Fourteenth Amendment because they are unconstitutionally vague. Plaintiffs further allege that S.B. 1 creates an undue burden on the right to vote in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Finally, plaintiffs assert that S.B. 1 violates Section 2 of the VRA and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments because it discriminates against minority voters.

Plaintiffs Friendship-West Baptist Church, Texas Impact, and Jim Lewin are represented by the Brennan Center and the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Our lawsuit has been consolidated with five others: OCA-Greater Houston v. Esparza, Houston Area Urban League v. Abbott, LULAC Texas v. Esparza, Mi Familia Vota v. Abbott, and United States v. Texas.

In March 2023, the Harris County Republican Party, Dallas County Republican Party, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and National Republican Congressional Committee (Republican committees) intervened as defendants.

Court Proceedings

The litigation over S.B. 1 has been protracted and complex and, as of this update, remains ongoing. A bench trial on most of the plaintiffs’ claims was held in the fall of 2023.

The district court has concluded that various provisions of S.B. 1 violate federal law. Each of those rulings has been appealed to the Fifth Circuit. The district court’s rulings have all been stayed pending appeal, meaning that all of S.B. 1’s provisions remain in effect while the litigation proceeds. 

  • In August 2023, the district court ruled that some of S.B. 1’s ID requirements for mail ballot applications and mail ballot envelopes violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s materiality provision. In August 2025, the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision and rendered judgment for the state defendants. That ruling fully resolved the United States’ claims in the case.
  • In September 2024, the district court concluded that S.B. 1’s prohibition on so-called “vote harvesting” violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. In February 2026, the Fifth Circuit reversed.
  • In October 2024, the district court concluded that several provisions of S.B. 1 restricting voter assistance violate Section 208 of the VRA. In August 2025, the Fifth Circuit reversed, concluding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge some of S.B. 1’s provisions and that those provisions that plaintiffs did have standing to challenge are not preempted by Section 208 of the VRA. Some plaintiffs have asked the Supreme Court to review that decision.
  • In March 2025, the district court concluded that several provisions of S.B. 1 violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. The defendants’ appeal of that decision is pending in the Fifth Circuit, with oral argument scheduled to take place in April 2026.
  • In December 2025, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision in an appeal filed by the state defendants in 2022. The court concluded that some of plaintiffs’ claims against the state defendants are barred by sovereign immunity and that other claims may proceed. The state defendants have asked the en banc Fifth Circuit to review that decision.

In addition to the various appellate proceedings, some of plaintiffs’ claims remain pending in the district court.

Documents

Western District of Texas

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Republican Party Intervention
Sovereign Immunity
  • Opinion as to District Attorney for Harris County (June 20, 2024)
  • Opinion as to State Defendants (December 31, 2025)
Legislative Privilege
  • Opinion in LULAC v. Hughes (May 17, 2023)
  • Opinion in LUPE v. Bettencourt (February 16, 2024)
Order Permanently Enjoining Section 7.04’s “Vote Harvesting” Ban
Order Permanently Enjoining Restrictions on Voter Assistance under Section 208 of the VRA
Order Permanently Enjoining Restrictions on Voter Assistance under Americans with Disabilities Act

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