Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asked U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa for the stay Friday in Galveston. Costa made no immediate ruling on the state's request.  On Thursday, Costa struck down five provisions of the voter registration law that the national non-partisan group Voting for America says it makes it harder to register people to vote.  The group complained that the new laws unconstitutionally restrict voter registration drives from gathering public voter information. The new laws also limit who can hand out voter registration cards and who can collect the completed registration forms.  GOP lawmakers say the new rules are necessary to prevent voter registration fraud.