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Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She has covered a range of topics as a community journalist including local government, public safety, immigration and social issues. Natalia previously reported for the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on impacts of government policies on communities of color. Natalia previously worked at the Indianapolis Star, where she helped launch the first Spanish-language newsletter, and at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas in Mexico and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is based in Corpus Christi.
The new law would force the county to move election duties under its clerk and tax assessor-collector, in reaction to what critics call a continued pattern of election problems. Full Story
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Two years ago, Texas lawmakers focused all their election changes in one bill. There are dozens of proposals this year, and many stem from concerns in Harris County — the nation’s third-largest county. Full Story
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The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers. Full Story
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County Judge Tim O’Hare wouldn’t rule out hiring someone who questions the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, calling it “not an automatic disqualifier.” Full Story
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Heider Garcia, like many other election officials across the country, faced death threats that stemmed from lies about the outcome of the 2020 election. Full Story
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The original provision was part of the state’s major overhaul to election laws in 2021. Full Story
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It took years to build the multi-state system known as ERIC, which weeds out duplicate, deceased and suspicious voter registrations. Texas Republicans want to dump it, but there’s no viable alternative. Full Story
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The priority bill, backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, reverses a change the Legislature made two years ago during an omnibus voting bill that made illegal voting a misdemeanor. Full Story
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ERIC is a national system that Texas officials say is an important tool to keep voting rolls clean. But a band of right-wing voting fraud activists, joined by state GOP officials, wants to gut it. Full Story
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Republican lawmakers — backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — are working to reverse a change to state law they approved two years ago as part of a sweeping overhaul to Texas election law that included downgrading illegal voting to a misdemeanor. Full Story
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