Republicans Are Trying to Seize Control Over Voting in Texas’ Largest Democratic County – By Ari Berman (Mother Jones) / May 23, 2023
The GOP-controlled legislature just passed bills to oust local election officials in Houston and neighboring cities.
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The Texas legislature passed a series of bills on Monday that amounted to a sweeping power grab giving Republicans more control over how elections are run and administered in the state’s most populous Democratic county, which includes the city of Houston and is home to nearly 5 million people.
One bill would allow the secretary of state, who is appointed by the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, to remove local election officials for “good cause” based on a “recurring pattern of problems with election administration.” Under SB 1933, a person involved in the election process could submit a complaint about a county election office to the secretary of state’s office, which could then usurp the power of local officials for something as minor as a voting machine malfunction that prevents someone from casting a ballot. There would be no opportunity for the county to challenge or appeal the decision. The bill applies solely to “large urban areas” with 4 million people or more. Only Houston’s Harris County, the state’s largest blue county, falls into that category.
A second bill, SB 1750, abolishes the position of election administrator in counties with a population of more than 3.5 million. Once again, only Harris County fits that definition.
