Judge calls new Texas election law unconstitutional but state says it will appeal ruling
Source: ABC News/AP
August 15, 2023, 6:25 PM
HOUSTON -- A judge has called a new law unconstitutional that passed in the GOP-led Texas Legislature and will dictate how elections are run in the state’s most populous county, which is a Democratic stronghold and home to Houston. The law, which would abolish a position that oversees elections in Harris County, was temporarily blocked by state District Judge Karin Crump in Austin after county officials filed a lawsuit earlier this month.
But the judge’s order, issued Monday, was short-lived. It was put on hold on Tuesday after the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a notice that it will appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. The new law, set to take effect Sept. 1, was pushed through by Republican lawmakers who accused Harris County officials of mismanaging recent elections. Democrats accused Republicans of singling out the county because, like other large urban areas around the state, it has increasingly voted Democratic.
In a statement, the Texas Attorney General’s Office said the new law was passed “to ensure that elections in the state’s largest counties are properly managed by individuals who are accountable to the voters, not by unaccountable bureaucrats.”
But in her orders in the lawsuit, Crump said the new law only applies to Texas counties with a population of 3.5 million residents. Harris County, with 4.7 million residents, is the only Texas county with that large of a population. According to the law’s language, no other county would be subject to the law even if their population were to ever surpass 3.5 million residents, Crump wrote.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-calls-new-texas-election-law-unconstitutional-state-102296644
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