Texas Legislature steps into Harris County elections

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The Texas House of Representatives gave preliminary approval late Monday to a pair of bills aimed at increasing state authority over elections in Harris County.

Senate Bill 1750, which is set to eliminate the Harris County elections administrator position — a nonpartisan position appointed by local elected officials — and return all election duties to the county clerk and tax assessor-collector, is expected to have a final vote today by the full House and go to the governor’s desk.

And Senate Bill 1933 — which was amended on the House floor Monday to impact only Harris County — gives the Texas secretary of state oversight of local elections, the authority to investigate election “irregularities” after complaints are filed and the authority to order the removal of a county election official if “a recurring pattern of problems” isn’t resolved. A final vote in the House is expected Tuesday. However, the changes made Monday must be approved by the state Senate before the bill can become law.

The set of bills aimed at the state’s most populous county — and third most populous in the nation — were among about a dozen bills authored by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who has said Harris County election problems in the past year were the “genesis” of the proposals.

Harris County leaders say the pieces of legislation set a “dangerous precedent.” That’s why the county is evaluating whether it can take legal action if the proposals become law.

County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said in a statement that state legislators are singling out Harris County “to score cheap political points.”

“I want to be clear: this fight is not over,” Menefee said. “We cannot and will not allow the state to illegally target Harris County.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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