With new voting laws, the Texas legislature targets elections in Democratic strongholds
Why it matters: Harris County could tip the balance of power in Texas.
Harris County, the most populous county in the state, has become a reliable Democratic stronghold.
The bills’ passage marked the culmination of a months-long effort by Texas Republicans to challenge some of that dominance. They highlighted the problems with Election Day last November in Harris County as justification for challenging results that favored Democrats, and questioned the Democrat-led county’s way of conducting its elections.
“It was a strong intention of some people in the legislature to take action against the Harris County election administration,” said Daniel Griffith, the senior policy director at Secure Democracy USA, a nonpartisan organization focused on elections and voter access.
Senate Act 1750 eliminates the appointed position of election administrator, which has only been in effect in Harris County since the end of 2020. If the bill becomes law with the governor’s signature, the county would have to revert to its previous system of elections, in which the county clerk and the county’s tax collector-assessor divided responsibilities. Both positions are currently held by elected Democrats.
“The legislature’s support for SB 1750 and SB 1933 is because Harris County is not too big to fail, but too big to ignore,” said Senator Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican and sponsor of several election bills. in a statement. “Public confidence in Harris County elections needs to be restored.”
Another bill, Senate Bill 1070, removes Texas from an interstate cross-checking system of voter registration information administered by a non-profit organization called the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. The system has been the target of conservative attacks in several states, in part because it requires states that use it to also reach voters when new voters come from outside the state. The Texas measure prohibits the state from participating in a cross-checking system that requires voter coverage.
Another bill House bill 1243increases the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a misdemeanor.
The measures that were passed were opposed by Democratic representatives and voting rights groups. But proponents of more access to the polls were relieved that other more restrictive measures had been proposed and passed in the Senate, including one that would have required voters to use their assigned polling place instead of being able to vote anywhere in the county, and a others that would have created a system for the state to call new elections in Harris County under certain circumstances—failed the Texas House.
“They haven’t moved and that’s definitely a good thing,” Mr. Griffith said.
What’s Next: A Lawsuit and a Microscope on Upcoming Elections.
The bills invite new scrutiny of elections, especially in Harris County, where officials are expected to review their system just months before major elections.
Under the new legislation, future complaints about the functioning of elections in the Democratic-led county could create the real possibility that the secretary of state, a former Republican senator, could step in and oversee the election as early as next year, as the county vote for chairman.
The bills, said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, “create more problems than they reportedly solve.”
Top Harris County officials have vowed to go to court to challenge both measures against the county once the laws go into effect (September 1, if the governor signs off), meaning the battle for county elections is far from over. is over.