The court order is the latest move in an ongoing battle between state Democrats and state attorney general Ken Paxton, a Republican, over voting during the pandemic.
Democrats argued that people should not have to choose between their right to vote and their health. Paxton has been adamant that expanding access to postal voting could lead to voter fraud.
State regulations allow those 65 and older to vote by mail, voters who have an illness or physical condition to appear at the polls, and others who are absent from the county.
Texas Democrats and Democratic voters under 65 presented the case, arguing that the law discriminates against younger voters who fear going to the polling place because of the pandemic.
“There are millions of Texas voters under the age of sixty-five who would be eligible to obtain an unexcused mail ballot,” their attorneys told the judges in court documents.
They noted that due to the global pandemic “that is getting worse day by day in Texas” some voters will not be able to vote “without risk to their health and, without hyperbole, to their lives.”
Texas reported nearly 6,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the highest increase in a single day since the pandemic began, and Gov. Greg Abbott, Republican, issued a new executive order Friday in an effort to stem the spread.
Democrats argued that voter rights were being violated under Amendment 26.
The court rejected the petition without noticeable dissent.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote separately to say that she agreed with the court’s decision at this stage of the case, but that she believed that the “heavy but seemingly novel” questions of the challengers in the case touching on the 26th Amendment should be considered in the lower courts “well in advance” of the November elections.
In May, a district court held that, in light of the pandemic, all voters in Texas could participate in an unexcused vote by mail. The judge issued a preliminary court order blocking the provision. But then on June 4, a federal appeals court blocked that decision, pending appeal.
Although most Americans support voting by mail as a socially distanced solution for this fall’s election, President Donald Trump has doubled his inclination to make false claims about electoral fraud in the United States. Multiple studies have confirmed that there is no widespread electoral fraud in this country, and millions of Americans vote by mail each year without systemic problems.
Texans return to the polls on July 14 for the runoff primary. The last day to request a ballot by mail is July 2.
CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
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