Federal judge tells Beaumont election officials not to harass or discriminate against Black voters

[TexasTowelie]

by Alexa Ura, Texas Tribune


Allegations that Black voters were harassed and intimidated during early voting at a Beaumont polling place prompted a federal judge to issue an order early Tuesday morning directing Jefferson County to prohibit discriminatory behavior.

In the order — issued after an emergency hearing Monday evening — federal District Judge Michael J. Truncale prohibited Jefferson County election workers from scrutinizing the identities of Black voters voters and, along with poll watchers, from shadowing them at voting stations.

The order is limited to the John Paul Davis Community Center in Beaumont, which predominantly serves Black voters. It stemmed from a federal lawsuit filed Monday by the Beaumont chapter of the NAACP and Jessica Daye, a Black registered voter, accusing Jefferson County election officials of unconstitutionally harassing Black voters.

"White poll workers throughout early voting repeatedly asked in aggressive tones only Black voters and not White voters to recite, out loud within the earshot of other voters, poll workers, and poll watchers, their addresses, even when the voter was already checked in by a poll worker," the suit claims.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/07/voting-discrimination-lawsuit-beaumont/