Texas’ chief elections administrator claims sovereign immunity bars the two lawsuits against her taking aim at the state’s voter registration and early voting rules. A sign is seen at a drive-through ballot drop off location in Austin, Texas, last October. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP) (CN) — Texas’ secretary of state asked a Fifth Circuit panel Thursday to dismiss two voting rights lawsuits from the Texas Democratic Party, one challenging voter registration rules and the other a law Democrats say was passed to disenfranchise left-leaning college students by placing restrictions on temporary polling places. Days before the state’s voter registration deadline for the 2018 midterm elections, then-Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos issued a press release telling voters online registration is not allowed in Texas, and advising counties applications submitted through a cellphone app created by the advocacy group Vote.org were not complete because they contained digital signatures.