InFocus DN

More Bills Targeting Harris County

• SB 823, authored by state Senator Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, would allow the Texas secretary of state’s ofce to suspend a county elections administrator and appoint a replacement.

• SB 1039, authored by Bettencourt and Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would require county election ofcials to respond to questions about alleged election irregularities from a candidate, county or state chair of a political party, election judge or the head of a political committee. If the requestor is not satisfed with the explanation, they can ask the Texas secretary of state to perform an audit. The secretary of state can appoint a state conservator to take over a county’s elections for two federal election cycles.

• SB 220 authored by Bettencourt, would create a team of state election marshals to investigate election code violations and fle criminal charges.

• SB 1911, authored by Bettencourt, could create criminal penalties for a county’s intentional failure to provide enough ballot paper or resupply quickly enough.