The move escalates a brewing fight with Texas Republicans over initiatives to proactively send applications to unregistered voters.
to receive twice-monthly updates on our year-long initiative dedicated to boosting civic engagement and chronicling how democracy is experienced in Texas.The 3-1 Commissioners Court vote escalates a brewing fight between Texas Republicans and some of the state’s largest counties over initiatives to proactively send registration applications to people who are eligible but unregistered to vote.
He noted the company uses a mix of public records and county data to identify people who could have recently moved and are unregistered, with a contractual obligation to contact “every eligible person who arises in any of those datasets.”to Bexar County commissioners warning the deal was illegal because the county “can take no action without a grant of legal authority,” and Texas law does not explicitly allow counties to mail out unsolicited registration forms.
In his letters to Bexar and Harris counties, Paxton said the outreach proposals were “particularly troubling this election cycle” because of the sharp uptick in people illegally crossing the border during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden, whose policies Paxton said have “saddled Texas” with “ballooning noncitizen populations.”
When Harris County considered hiring Smith’s company for voter registration outreach last week, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, argued the move would “result in very high probability of registering non-citizens to vote.
“I am continuously talking to migrants, and none of them are trying to figure out how to vote illegally,” she said. “They are concerned with getting food, and clothes on their backs.” This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices: -1 U.S Senator - 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners - 15 State Senators - 7 State Board of Education members - 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court - 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals - 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Demographics Politics State Government Voting Bexar County Harris County
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s hunt for voter fraud reaches Bexar CountyThe AG's office executed multiple search warrants stemming from a tip alleging 'election fraud and vote harvesting' during the 2022 midterm.
Read more »
Texas AG Ken Paxton threatens to sue Bexar County if it mails voter registration cardsTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday threatened to sue Bexar County if it approves a plan to use taxpayer money to mail voter registration applications to its residents. The threat is the latest in a controversial series of moves the Republican AG has made in what his office calls an effort to uphold 'election integrity.
Read more »
Bexar County will mail voter registration forms, defying Ken Paxton’s threat to sueThe move escalates a brewing fight with Texas Republicans over initiatives to proactively send applications to unregistered voters.
Read more »
Bexar County will mail voter registration forms, defying Ken Paxton’s threat to sueThe move escalates a brewing fight with Texas Republicans over initiatives to proactively send applications to unregistered voters.
Read more »
Flouting Paxton threat, Bexar County hire voter registration firmBexar County commissioners hired a firm to blanket the county with voter registration forms. AG Ken Paxton has threatened to sue.
Read more »
Bexar County hires outside firm to register new voters, drawing threat of lawsuit from Ken PaxtonBexar County hired an outside firm to register voters after a letter from Attorney General Ken Paxton warned, 'I will see you in court.'
Read more »