Texas Republicans Want to Take Over Elections in This Democratic Stronghold
Source: Bloomberg
Texas Republicans Want to Take Over Elections in This Democratic Stronghold
• Harris County backed Joe Biden by 13 points in 2020 election
• Bills would give Republicans more control over its voting
ByRyan Teague Beckwith
May 7, 2023, 2:36 PM UTC
Texas Republicans are seeking to take control of elections in the Houston area, a growing Democratic stronghold that is making statewide races more competitive and could eventually turn the state into a presidential battleground.
So far this year, Republican state lawmakers have proposed eliminating the local elections clerk’s job; allowing the Republican-appointed secretary of state to suspend the clerk; letting the secretary of state overturn an election in the county and order a new one; creating new “election marshals” to investigate and press charges against elections clerks; and potentially allowing election charges to be brought in a neighboring county.
The sweeping proposals come as the greater Houston area has seen a population boom and shift among its highly educated suburban voters away from the GOP and toward Democrats, raising the possibility that the county could lead long-Republican Texas into the Democrats’ column.
Local officials around Houston say the bills are targeted at them. The text of two of the bills even says they would only apply to counties of a certain size, eliminating all but Harris, a sprawling metropolis criss-crossed by 10-lane freeways.
Some other bills are broader but would affect the Houston area more than the rest of the state. ...
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Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-07/texas-republicans-want-to-control-voting-elections-in-democratic-houston
Non-paywalled link: https://archive.is/QBZ4g
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