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Feb 27, 2026

Judge Delivers Blockbuster Ruling - This Could Decide Who Wins the Midterms

AUSTIN, TX — A massive victory for election integrity has just been secured. In a blockbuster decision that could decide who wins the upcoming midterms, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld Texas’s strict prohibition on paid in-person ballot harvesting.

Reversing a lower court’s injunction, a unanimous three-judge panel allowed the law to take effect immediately, ensuring that partisan operatives can no longer profit from collecting or influencing mail-in ballots.

"FRAUD IS A REAL RISK"

The ruling officially reinstates Section 276.015 of the Texas Election Code, which was enacted as part of Senate Bill 1 in 2021. The statute makes it a crime to provide or offer "vote harvesting services" in exchange for compensation.

Writing for the panel, Judge Edith H. Jones completely dismantled the arguments from left-leaning voting groups who claimed the law was "vague" and chilled political speech. Applying the constitutional Anderson/Burdick balancing test, the court concluded that Texas has a "compelling interest" in protecting its elections.

"Fraud is a real risk that accompanies mail-in voting," Judge Jones wrote, citing the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. "Texas has a compelling interest in preventing the pressure and intimidation common in third-party ballot collection."

COMMON SENSE OVER AI

In one of the most blistering sections of the opinion, Judge Jones took the lower district court to task not only for relying on "vague hypotheticals" and "speculative scenarios" but for reportedly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make legal determinations.

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