Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has signed two bills that single out the largest county in Texas—a Democratic stronghold home to one in six Texans—by allowing state Republicans to potentially take over the local administration of elections on questionable grounds.
In Texas, county officials hold wide authority when it comes to running elections in their jurisdictions. A state takeover could allow Republicans to restrict voting access and potentially even interfere with certifying election results. County officials have argued that the new laws violate the state constitution's prohibition on targeting any particular county or city and have vowed to sue.
The legislation in question is indeed extremely specific, as it only applies to Harris County, which is home to Houston and 4.7 million people. That makes it not only Texas' most populous county but the third-largest in the nation—one that's become an increasingly pivotal battleground. Once a Republican bastion, Harris County has swung sharply to the left during the Trump era and in 2020 backed Joe Biden by a 56-43 margin. Democrats also took over the county government in 2018, with rising star Lina Hidalgo securing a second term as Harris' top official just last year.
Under Democratic leadership, Harris County has made voting more accessible, but Republicans want to turn back the clock. The first of their new laws empowers Republican Secretary of State Jane Nelson, an Abbott appointee, to take over nearly every aspect of election administration.
Nelson needs very little in order to act: If a candidate or party files a complaint, she only needs to claim she "has good cause to believe that a recurring pattern of problems with election administration or voter registration exists in the county" in order to assume control of the voting process. This vaguely worded provision—which doesn't actually require hard proof—therefore sets a very low threshold for a state takeover.
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