A Harris County judge has ordered election officials to reopen early voting for two additional days in Texas’ 18th Congressional District runoff after a winter storm forced polling places to close.
The judge’s ruling was in response to lawsuits from advocacy groups Houston Justice and Pure Justice.
The groups filed an emergency lawsuit asking Harris County officials to extend early voting hours in the 18th Congressional District runoff election between former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee.
The groups argued that when officials shut down early voting sites on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26, after a winter storm warning brought dangerous road conditions and freezing temperatures, voters lost crucial time to cast their ballots.
Those closures, they said, were “understandable,” but they also reduced voters’ opportunities to cast ballots in the TX-18 race.
Therefore, they requested a temporary restraining order requiring the county to reopen early voting for additional days, including Jan. 28, 2026, for 12 hours and Jan. 29, 2026, for at least seven hours.
Those named in the lawsuit were Harris County, Commissioners Court, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Commissioners Rodney Ellis, Adrian Garcia, Tom Ramsey, and Lesley Briones.
The Harris County Clerk’s office is responsible for administering elections in the county, including early voting operations.
Election Day for the runoff is Saturday, Jan. 31.
Court grants emergency relief
On Jan. 26, the 157th District Court granted a temporary restraining order requiring Harris County to make up the lost voting time.
Under the order, the county must:
- Open all early voting locations that were scheduled to operate on Monday, Jan. 26, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Open all locations that had been scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25, for at least seven hours on Thursday, Jan. 29, from noon to 7 p.m.
The added hours are intended to make up for time lost when polling places were shut down due to dangerous road conditions and freezing temperatures caused by a winter storm.
The judge found that voters faced “imminent and irreparable harm” if the additional hours were not granted and that the advocacy groups were likely to succeed on the merits of their legal claims under the Texas Election Code.
The order also requires Harris County to widely publicize the added voting hours “through every possible source of media” and to handle any provisional ballots cast during the extended period in accordance with the Help America Vote Act.
What do the candidates say?
Menefee and Edwards supported the lawsuit, arguing in favor of the extension.
“Governor Abbott delayed for months before calling this election for the 18th Congressional District,” Menefee said in a statement before the judge’s ruling. “Now a storm has knocked out two of the seven days of early voting…Folks in TX-18 have already gone nearly a year without a voice in Congress. We shouldn’t have to settle for just five days to vote early in such an important election.”
Edwards called the lack of representation in the district a “deliberate disenfranchisement” of voters, historically a Black, Democratic stronghold.
“I am in full alignment with the extension of the early voting period,” she said, adding that the extension is important because voters are already confused about two overlapping elections: The runoff and March primaries with redrawn boundaries. “This is your last opportunity to make your voice heard.”
Edwards said areas with high concentrations of seniors and other vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by changes in election dates and foresees a “dip” in turnout due to the cancellations.
She advised voters to use free METRO round-trip tickets to the polls for the election.
“Texas law doesn’t allow local officials to extend voting days on their own. You have to get a court order just to do what makes sense,” Menefee added. “That’s why this lawsuit matters; it’s about making sure people have the time and opportunity to vote.”
A long-awaited election
The 18th Congressional District has seen several setbacks in the past year.
First, Congressmen Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner, who represented the district, died while in office, leaving the seat without representation for almost a year.
Then, a special election was held in November 2025, in which both Menefee and Edwards fell short of the 50% threshold, triggering a runoff.
The runoff early voting period was also cut short due to weather conditions before the district court ruling.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs stated that their members had planned to vote during the now-canceled early voting days and may have faced challenges getting to the polls later in the week or on Election Day.
“Potentially dozens of thousands of voters could be further disenfranchised by having fewer days to cast their ballots, due to dangerous weather conditions outside of Defendants’ control,” the lawsuit explained.
Legal arguments focus on state election law
The lawsuit contended that the poll closures conflict with provisions of the Texas Election Code that govern early voting hours.
The code requires that early voting during special elections ordered by the Governor “shall be conducted at the main early voting polling place for at least 12 hours on each of the last two days of the early voting period.”
The plaintiffs argue that closing polling places on Monday, one of those final days, violated that requirement.
They sought relief under a section of the Texas Election Code that allows individuals or organizations to seek court intervention when they are being harmed or are in danger of being harmed by a violation of election law.
In addition to their statutory claims, the plaintiffs argued that limiting early voting access imposes an unconstitutional burden on the fundamental right to vote.
