Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis joined 48 county officials, members of Congress and state legislators, including those in the other four most populous counties, to request the U.S. Justice Department “monitor the State of Texas’ actions affecting Constitutional voting rights” in the upcoming election.
“Recent actions by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have increased the urgency for federal election monitors in our state,” the officials write in a letter to the Justice Department. “While the Texas Legislature has increased the barriers to vote since the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, in recent months, state leaders in Austin have accelerated the attacks on our right to vote.”
The letter is signed by Commissioners Court members from Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Tarrant and Travis counties as well as members of Congress and the Texas Legislature.
The letter states that election monitors are necessary due to ongoing and past actions by the state to suppress, intimidate and disenfranchise Texas voters. Recently, voting rights advocates urged the Secretary of State to refrain from purging individuals from Texas' voter rolls within the 90-day period preceding a federal election in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act.
“We speak for those who have been silenced by these extremist measures and call on the United States Department of Justice and Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section to intervene to protect all Texans’ right to cast their ballot for the candidate of their choice,” the letter says. “We stand by to assist your efforts and look forward to your response.”