The legal conflict between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Travis County is escalating, with Paxton now taking the county to court over their voter registration initiatives. According to a draft of the lawsuit obtained by The Texas Tribune and Votebeat, Travis County officials are in hot water for deciding to hire Civic Government Solutions to reach out to residents who are not currently registered to vote. Paxton, adamant in his stance, asserts that this move is not only illegal but also undermines confidence in the election process.
Texas Attorney General took particular issue with what he sees as "partisan actors" being paid to identify unregistered voters, as stated in his lawsuit. "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 proclaimed in a statement. Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard commented at The Texas Tribune Festival, "We just thought it was nice thing to do," following the announcement of the lawsuit. However, the precise legality of Travis County's outreach efforts remains at the heart of this legal battle.
A representative for Travis County defended their outreach strategy, emphasizing the county's dedication to fostering voter participation. "Travis County is committed to encouraging voter participation and we are proud of our outreach efforts that achieve higher voter registration numbers," Hector Nieto, a county spokesperson, detailed in a statement relayed by KVUE. "We remain steadfast in our responsibility to uphold the integrity of the voter registration process while ensuring that every eligible person has the opportunity to exercise their right to vote."
This lawsuit is part of a series of actions by Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott, both Republicans, focused on what they term "safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote," The Texas Tribune reported. These initiatives come after Abbott revealed last month that Texas had removed around a million individuals from its voter rolls since the overhaul of election laws in 2021. Experts in the field of elections have cautioned, though, that both federal and state laws already necessitate regular maintenance of voter rolls, hinting that such announcements could potentially erode trust in the electoral system.
