Harris County leaders officially filed a lawsuit against the state in an attempt to allow the courts decide how it should run elections—a direct challenge to Senate Bill 1750, a recently passed law that eliminated the county’s election administrator system.

“We’re suing because this law violates the Texas Constitution,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in July 6 press conference. “We are filing a lawsuit to undo Senate Bill 1750, the law that botches the EA’s office in only Harris County. But this fight is much bigger than this one law. This is about protecting Harris County elections.”

The details

SB 1750 is set to go into effect Sept. 1, weeks before early voting in the November elections that the county is hosting. The following are elections that would be affected by the change, according to the news release:

  • Statewide constitutional amendments
  • Countywide bond propositions
  • Municipal races for the city of Houston, including mayor of Houston

Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia spoke about various voter suppression instances in American history and relayed the lawsuit as a direct response to similar voter treatment.

“SB 1750 is a direct attack on those of you who want to participate in democracy freely and watch as you deem necessary,” Garcia said.

What’s next

The county attorney’s office will be going to court and ask the judge to temporarily block SB 1750 from going into effect on Sept. 1, Menefee said. They will be asking that the hearing take place in the next few weeks.

  • If a court agrees to take the lawsuit, the county officials will be engaged in long-term litigation.
  • If the court order temporarily blocks SB 1750, it would allow the county’s election administrator, Clifford Tatum, to manage elections and voter registration until the courts reach a final decision in the case.
  • If the law is not blocked, Menefee said they will making tough decision, but will also be preparing to turn the election administrator’s position to the Harris County tax assessor-collector and county clerk, according to the new law’s language.

“What we don't want is a situation where no court has agreed with us and we have an election to run in November 2023,” Menefee said.

Those opposed

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, wrote the legislation on SB 1750 and in a news release called the county’s lawsuit “frivolous.”

“The public will be far better served by elected officials that followed the election code in the past and will do so in future elections thus, regaining confidence of the voters in the elections process,” Bettencourt said. “That’s what SB 1750 is all about.”

Here's how to read the lawsuit filed by the Harris County attorney: Harris County v. The State of Texas.