Under state Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s bill, some individuals could submit requests for explanations of ‘election irregularities’ and potentially bring them to the Texas Secretary of State.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt , R-Houston, on the Senate floor on Sept. 14, 2023. Bettencourt's new bill would put new requirments on election officials to respond to complaints.Key Texas lawmakers are reviving legislation that would require election officials to respond within set time frames to requests to explain “election irregularities” from certain party officials and election workers.
Bettencourt said problems during Harris County’s November 2022 election prove such a measure is needed.Bettencourt said that for months after that election, county election officials “refused to answer questions.” The bill would help prevent that, he said. He also pointed to more recent incidents in Dallas County, another Democratic stronghold, involvingby Dallas County Republican leaders who said that the voting equipment had not been certified by state officials.
The secretary of state will then determine if the information provided “sufficiently explains the irregularity identified,” the bill says. If the secretary of state concludes it isn’t, that office must “immediately begin an audit of the identified irregularity at the expense of the county or other authority conducting the election.”The Secretary of State’s Office declined to comment on the legislation.
Election administrators answer to bipartisan election boards and commissions. They have to respond to questions from members of the counties’ commissioners court, who set the budgets for election departments. Election officials respond to public records requests submitted by members of the public, which also have to be fulfilled within a specific time frame by law.
He added that depending on the type and timing of requests, some documentation may not be available for public inspection, may need redactions, or simply may not exist.
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Elections Politics State Government Paul Bettencourt 2022 Elections 2024 Elections
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