HOUSTON – Gov. Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 1750, which abolishes the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office, and Senate Bill 1933, which allows the secretary of state to oversee, manage, and even take steps to remove county elections officials in only Harris County.
The bills go into effect Sept. 1, 2023 – just weeks before early voting for both a countywide election and the city of Houston elections.
Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee has reaffirmed his intent to sue the state over the laws, a press release states.
“I’m gearing up to sue the state over these bills and I expect to be in the courts in the next couple weeks. We won’t sit back and allow Republicans in Austin to target Harris County officials and disrupt our elections,” said Menefee. “The Texas Constitution makes clear that Texas legislators should not be abusing their power by singling out a county to address political vendettas instead of doing what’s right for all Texans.
“It’ll be up to the Texas Supreme Court to decide whether Senator Paul Bettencourt is lawfully able to use his power to attack only Harris County, creating restraints on our elections that exist nowhere else in this state. That’s a question Texans deserve to have answered.”
SB 1750 abolishes the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office and bars the county from re-creating the office, sending the elections administration duties to the Harris County clerk, and the voter registration duties to the Harris County tax assessor-collector.
SB 1933 creates a process by which certain persons can file election complaints and trigger secretary of state oversight on Harris County elections. SB1933 also permits the secretary of state to file a lawsuit to remove from office the Harris County clerk and tax assessor-collector.