Travis County Sues Texas Officials Over Voter Registration Efforts
On Tuesday, Travis County officials initiated legal action against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Secretary of State Jane Nelson, challenging the state’s efforts to hinder voter registration ahead of a significant presidential election.
This new federal lawsuit intensifies the pre-election conflict between Republican state officials and Democratic urban county leaders. It accuses Texas officials of breaching the National Voter Registration Act, as the October 7 voter registration deadline approaches.
“Today, Travis County, once again, fights back,” stated Travis County Attorney Delia Garza during a press conference on Tuesday.
Paxton’s office did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The lawsuit follows Paxton’s attempt to use state courts to prevent Travis County from mailing voter registration applications to eligible but currently unregistered voters. Austin, located in Travis County, is known for its Democratic leanings.
Paxton’s legal action claims that the Texas Election Code does not authorize county officials to collect personal information for voter registration purposes, deeming such activities illegal. However, this interpretation is disputed by Democrats, local leaders, and election experts.
In various interviews and social media posts, Paxton has made unsubstantiated claims that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are permitting undocumented immigrants to enter the country to secure votes for Democrats. Former President Donald Trump has echoed these assertions, including during a recent presidential debate with Harris.
Paxton contends that mailing voter registration applications could result in ineligible individuals registering to vote. These applications are returned to county offices for eligibility verification, a process also overseen by the Secretary of State’s Office.
“Travis County has blatantly violated Texas law by paying partisan actors to conduct unlawful identification efforts to track down people who are not registered to vote,” Paxton said earlier this month. “Programs like this invite fraud and reduce public trust in our elections. We will stop them and any other county considering such programs.”
Jeremy Smith, CEO of Civic Government Solutions—the company contracted by Travis County to identify unregistered voters—denied any partisan methods were utilized. “All of our contracts, 100% of them, are nonpartisan. It is written in,” Smith stated. “We are under restrictions and obligations to prove that and maintain that and provide that data for accountability back to all of our clients.”
Garza noted that the new legal filings move Paxton’s state lawsuit to federal court. Travis officials seek federal court permission to continue distributing voter registration applications. This filing follows a judge’s decision to deny Paxton’s request to block Bexar County from mailing voter registration forms, citing that the forms had already been sent. Bexar County, home to San Antonio, is also predominantly Democratic.
Travis officials argue that Paxton’s actions violate Title 52 of the Voting Rights Act by obstructing their efforts to promote voting rights. They further accuse Nelson of failing to intervene in Paxton’s alleged misconduct, asserting that state law not only permits but encourages the mailing of voter registration applications.
Nelson’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Garza emphasized a state law provision that allows local governments to be reimbursed for the costs of mailing voter registration applications. “Travis County was going about its business serving the citizens of our community and dutifully complying with federal and state election laws,” remarked Travis County Judge Andy Brown.
This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune
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