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Texas Republicans want power to overturn Harris County elections over mishaps at the polls
The Texas GOP is scared of blue cities and blue counties. Harris County has been very blue for a long time and the GOP tried and failed to win some races in Harris County including trying to unseat Lina Hidalgo as county judge. Now the Texas GOP want to be able to ignore election results in Harris County if they lose and have a Greg Abbott stooge order new elections
Link to tweet
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-republicans-seek-overturn-elections-mishaps-18073334.php
The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to allow Gov. Greg Abbott precedent-setting power to overturn elections in Harris County, in order to punish local officials for running out of ballot paper at some polling sites last year.
The legislation, which passed the Senate 19-12, would give Abbott’s appointed secretary of state the authority to order an entirely new election in Harris County if the county ever again runs out of paper at 2 percent or more of its polling sites for over an hour.
“There is no reason, there is no excuse why we can’t competently run our elections and have adequate ballot paper,” said state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, a co-author of the bill whose district includes part of southeast Harris County.
The measure provoked outrage from outnumbered Democrats in the Texas Senate who blasted Middleton for trying to give the governor new authority to toss election results as President Donald Trump sought to do after he lost in 2020.
“You want to vest in a political appointee the ability to make a decision as to whether or not an election should be overturned and reheld?” asked state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, during a debate in the Senate on Monday.
The legislation, which passed the Senate 19-12, would give Abbott’s appointed secretary of state the authority to order an entirely new election in Harris County if the county ever again runs out of paper at 2 percent or more of its polling sites for over an hour.
“There is no reason, there is no excuse why we can’t competently run our elections and have adequate ballot paper,” said state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, a co-author of the bill whose district includes part of southeast Harris County.
The measure provoked outrage from outnumbered Democrats in the Texas Senate who blasted Middleton for trying to give the governor new authority to toss election results as President Donald Trump sought to do after he lost in 2020.
“You want to vest in a political appointee the ability to make a decision as to whether or not an election should be overturned and reheld?” asked state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, during a debate in the Senate on Monday.