Travis County has filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for his attempt to stop a program that mails out voter registration forms to residents.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Paxton and Secretary of State Jane Nelson of violating the National Voter Registration Act. The law requires states to provide residents the opportunity to register to vote, including through drivers license applications and mailers.
At a news conference Tuesday, County Attorney Delia Garza said Travis County is not going to let Paxton intimidate or stop the county from helping people register to vote, which is protected under the law. She said the county is asking a federal judge to let it continue sending out mailers as a voter registration tool.
“The Texas attorney general thinks that he is above the law,” Garza said. “Here in Texas, and in this country, we still value the things that are foundational to us – things like voting, registering to vote and making sure people have a voice in their government.”
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Paxton's office argued Travis County commissioners misused taxpayer dollars by hiring Civic Government Solutions to run the mailer program. It claimed the company encourages people to cast ballots for progressive candidates and that it will “create confusion, potentially facilitate fraud, and undermine public trust in the election process.” The office alleged the county “blatantly violated” state law.
Paxton's office also sued Bexar County for funding a similar program, arguing sending out mailers could inspire noncitizens to illegally register to vote. A state district judge in San Antonio on Monday ruled against Paxton, and he appealed.
Austin, Travis County and state lawmakers say claims of voter fraud from Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott are intended to intimidate voters. There has been no evidence of fraud found, officials said.
Bruce Elfant, voter registrar for Travis County, said there's nothing illegal or new about the program to mail out registration forms. The county has for years had a well-established voter registration outreach program, that includes text to register, door-to-door registration and mailings to eligible voters. He said Texas is one of the last states that don't allow voter registration online, which he said could streamline the process.
“Instead of working to increase participation in our elections, our state leaders are focusing on telling us election officials what we can’t do,” Elfant said. “So now, the Texas attorney general is telling election officials through his lawsuits that we can’t even reach out to eligible, but unregistered voters in accordance with state and federal law.”
Elfant said Paxton’s claims of voter fraud are unfounded because the state’s verification process validates each registration form.
County Judge Andy Brown said Travis County would continue to encourage people to register to vote.
“In Travis County we stand up for what is right,” he said. “I will continue to fight so that eligible voters in Travis County have the opportunity to participate in the election process even as the attorney general works to undermine that right.”
It's unclear how many of the forms have already been sent out, but officials said people can still fill them out and register that way. Residents can also find registration applications at any Austin-area public library, post office or state office locations for the departments of public safety and health and human services. Applications can also be found at votetravis.com.
The last day to register is Oct. 7.
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