Election integrity or voter suppression? 5 things to know about Texas’ voting bill

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, July 15, 2021

Drive-thru voting mostly banned

Voters leave a polling station after casting their votes during the U.S. presidential election in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, November 8, 2016. | Reuters/Aaron Josefczyk

One of the provisions found in Senate Bill 1 is a prohibition on drive-thru voting in most circumstances, save in the event that a voter is physically unable to enter a polling place.

According to the bill, “a polling place may not be located in a tent or similar temporary moveable structure or in a facility primarily designed for motor vehicles.”

“… the polling place may not be located in a tent or similar temporary moveable structure or a parking garage, parking lot, or similar facility designed primarily for motor vehicles,” continues SB 1 elsewhere.

The text also says that voters cannot “cast a vote from inside a motor vehicle unless” they are physically unable to enter a traditional polling place to vote, as explained in Section 64.009 of the Texas Election Code.