Civil rights advocates and attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday, joining a series of similar cases challenging Texas voting provisions that allegedly target and discriminate against minority groups and those who are disabled.

Together, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., Reed Smith and developmental disabilities advocate The Arc filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on behalf of the Houston Area Urban League, Houston Justice, Delta Sigma Inc., and the Arc of Texas, arguing the unconstitutionality of Senate Bill 1, which restricts voter access with limits on polling hours and mail-in ballot applications, as well as the elimination of drive-thru voting centers across the state.

"Democracy should make it easier for eligible voters to vote, not harder," Ken Broughton, managing partner of Reed Smith's Houston office, said in a press release Tuesday. "Democracy should also increase voter turnout, not inhibit it. This legislation will prevent many qualified voters from voting because these laws are anti-voter."

Texas, the plaintiff argue, has a history of excluding minority groups, resulting in it being among the lowest states in the country for voter turnout. But in 2020, Texas voters were motivated to participate and voter turnout was the highest since 1992.

Voters faced long lines and executive orders that only made it more difficult for disenfranchised groups to have their voices heard.

On Oct. 1, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that limited the use of absentee ballot drop boxes to one box location per county—regardless of the population. On Wednesday, the governor's office said the legislation will "solidify trust" in the outcome of future elections.

"Protecting the integrity of our elections is critical in the state of Texas, which is why Governor Abbott made election integrity an emergency item during the regular legislative session and worked to ensure its passage by calling special session after special session," Abbott's spokeswoman Renae Eze said in an email. "Texas is making it easier to vote and harder to cheat, by increasing early voting hours, creating more transparency in the election process, securing every ballot, and ensuring uniform statewide rules."

In addition to the governor, Deputy Secretary of State Jose Esparza, state Attorney General Jacque Callanen, and elections administrators of Bexar and Harris counties are named in the 87-page lawsuit.

Tuesday's filing joins at least four other cases brought by activists, including La Union del Pueblo Entero, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas State Conference of the NAACP, and Asian Pacific American advocates group OCA-Greater Houston, against state and county officials.

The lawsuits outline the rushed process that ultimately led to the enactment of the bill, which  plaintiffs argue empowers partisan poll watchers to employ voter intimidation tactics.

Texas is among more than 40 states that have enacted legislative efforts to substantially restrict voting access.

The LDF and the Arc are also leading challenges to Georgia's restrictive voting laws, which they argue also discriminate against voters of color and voters with disabilities, through several lawsuits against the Department of Justice, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, which challenge Senate Bill 202, which establishes new identification requirements for absentee voting, limits the use of absentee drop boxes, bans mobile polling places, and prohibits any nonpoll worker from giving food or drink to voters in line.