Save Austin Now PAC wins lawsuit over ballot language
By FOX 7 Austin Digital Team
Published
Reinstatement of public camping ban to be placed on May 2021 ballot
The next step is for the Austin City Council to approve ballot language, which must happen by Feb. 12.
AUSTIN, Texas - Tuesday the Texas Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Save Austin Now PAC s lawsuit alleging that ballot language passed by the Austin City Council was unfair, prejudicial, and distorts the actual petition language in an attempt to intentionally bias voters against the public camping ban which will appear on the May 1st ballot.
Three Austin residents, aided by the organization behind the camping ban ordinance that is heading to voters May 1, have asked two state courts to toss out ballot language adopted by the Austin City Council, arguing it is biased and designed to elicit no votes.
The emergency petitions, filed last week with the Texas Supreme Court and the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals, argued that council members violated the city charter by adopting ballot language that was different from the language presented on petitions signed by more than 20,000 registered voters.
The petitions were validated Feb. 3, putting the proposed ban on camping, aggressive panhandling and loitering in certain locations before voters in the May 1 election.