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

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Dan Ruiz Branch Library in Austin on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. (Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The 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.