UPDATED: Sec. of State: You May Lie on Absentee Ballot Form

(UPDATE: See Texas Supreme Court Ruling below)

"For voters concerned with Coronavirus who would like to opt to absentee vote as precaution, Merrill encourages people to check the box on the application that says “I am ill or infirm and will be unable to appear at my polling place on Election Day.
Merrill says that box would be appropriate to check regardless of your situation."

                                                                  From an Alabama News Network interview.         

(You can see him make that statement HERE.)

     So if you just don't want to vote in person, Merrill says just lie on the official state government form.

UPDATE: CNN reports the Texas Supreme Court has issued a ruling similar to the issue in this post, though note it is the Democratic Party there arguing for allowing the voting by people fearing Covid19 exposure, while here is the Republican SOS making the similar argument out of court.)

(CNN)The Texas Supreme Court issued a stay Friday evening to keep county election officials from allowing voters who are afraid of catching coronavirus to vote by mail.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the court to step in Wednesday, arguing that election officials are "misapplying" the state's "disability" requirement for absentee mail-in voting amid the pandemic...

The Texas Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in late March, asking a judge to allow that a Texas election provision allowing voters to cast a mail-in ballot if they suffer from a disability apply to any voter who feared for their health amid the coronavirus pandemic.