Texas’s Attorney General Files a Suit to Stop San Antonio’s Drive to Register Voters

Texas’s Attorney General Files a Suit to Stop San Antonio’s Drive to Register Voters

The lawsuit is the most recent front in a growing battle over elections between the Democrats, who run the state’s main cities, and the Republicans, who control the state government.

Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas went to court on Wednesday to try to stop county leaders in San Antonio from sending out more than 200,000 voter registration applications to unregistered residents of Bexar County.

The lawsuit by Mr. Paxton followed a letter he sent days earlier warning Bexar County officials, most of whom are Democrats, against proceeding with the mailing. The county’s governing commissioners voted 3 to 1 on Tuesday to approve the proposal anyway.

Furthermore, Mr. Paxton has made threats to sue Harris County, which includes the Democratic bastion of Houston. A similar effort to boost the number of voters registered prior to the early November registration deadline has been discussed by officials there.

The lawsuit is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between Republicans, who run most of the state’s major cities, and Democrats, who control state government, over voting rights and elections in Texas.

Texas’s Attorney General Files a Suit to Stop San Antonio’s Drive to Register Voters

There have been other registration-related conflicts across the nation, like as the one in Michigan, where the campaign of Donald J. Trump is attempting to thwart a state initiative to increase registration at federal offices. A three-year-old executive order requiring the federal government to increase registration was the subject of a lawsuit filed by nine Republican state attorneys general against the Biden administration last month. Other Republican opponents of the order were also named in the claim.

In an effort to stop what Mr. Paxton claims are attempts to get around the state’s tough election laws in a way that would result in fraud in the November election, Texas state officials have stepped up their efforts in recent weeks.

The confrontation takes place in the midst of a fierce Senate battle between Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who is running for a third term, and Democratic Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL star from Dallas who is trailing in certain surveys by just a small margin. As a result, the stakes could be very high this year.

Several Democratic leaders and election volunteers, many of whom were connected to the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, were among the party workers in their 70s and 80s who had their houses raided by Mr. Paxton’s office authorities last month. Vote harvesting and potential electoral fraud seemed to be the main focus of Mr. Paxton’s research.

In a different development, Mr. Paxton stated last month that he was investigating the possibility that state organizations had registered noncitizens to vote; but, his office has not disclosed any information or identified the organizations. Additionally, he created a public email “tip line” where people can report “suspected violations of Texas election law.”

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Simultaneously, data that Gov. Greg Abbott made public last month indicated that almost 2,000 noncitizens may have registered and cast ballots in the state since 2021—a practice that would be prohibited. (State statistics revealed that just 650 noncitizens had been discovered to have registered during that period; officials clarified that the figures mentioned by Mr. Abbott comprised individuals who were perhaps noncitizens but did not reply to a letter requesting further information.)

Mr. Paxton cited Mr. Abbott’s figures in his lawsuit against Bexar County officials on Wednesday.

The lawsuit asks a state court to step in and stop the county from going forward with its registration application mailings. Mr. Paxton argues in the suit that the county had gone beyond its legal authority and that the mailing contract for nearly $400,000 had been improperly awarded without a competitive bidding process.

But local officials have said they are engaging in an effort to expand voter participation, a general civic good.

Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio in the Texas House of Representatives, stated, “There’s very clearly an effort to undermine local authorities.” Fischer objected to new voting limits that the Legislature had established in the hopes of preventing voter fraud in 2021. “The attorney general is using scare tactics to make voter registration difficult.”

In his correspondence with Bexar and Harris County officials, Mr. Paxton explicitly stated that his concerns arose from the notion, shared by a growing number of Republicans as well as hard-right conservatives, that immigrants and asylum seekers who are not allowed to vote would nevertheless be casting ballots.

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“As you are aware, the open border policies of the Biden-Harris administration have imposed a wave of illegal immigration on Texas and the United States,” Mr. Paxton stated in his letters. He further stated that it was “more important than ever that we maintain the integrity of our voter rolls and ensure only eligible voters decide our elections.”

As the top administrative officer of Bexar County but not a judge in the court, Peter Sakai, the county’s judge, claimed he received assurances that noncitizens would “not be allowed” to register to vote. He expressed his confidence that Civic Government Solutions, the company hired to manage the mailing, would not discriminate against Democrats. Texas’s Attorney General Files a Suit.

Mr. Sakai continued, “The county’s program focused on recently arrived residents who were eligible to vote, regardless of party.”

The county commissioner who proposed the legislation, Justin Rodriguez, referred to Mr. Paxton’s lawsuit as “predictable and disappointing” and described the attorney general’s suggestion that the county register voters who aren’t eligible as “completely ridiculous and the furthest from the truth.”

However, the only Republican county commissioner in Bexar, Grant Moody, cast a vote against the mailing. He declared that although the county had not participated in voter registration for years, “We are doing it 60 days out from a national election.”

He was concerned about the possible political ties of the postal company. Then declared, “This is a bad idea.” “The county is not accountable for it.”

Jacque Callanen, the county’s election administrator, expressed worries that her office would become overloaded with new registrants. In a statement, she claimed that she was not contacted when the mailing firm was hired.

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Nevertheless, Mr. Paxton’s “meritless attempt to stop democracy” would face fierce opposition from Bexar County district attorney Joe Gonzales, who represents county officials in civil proceedings.