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.
Natalia Contreras
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
The 13 election bills to watch as the Texas Legislature heads into its last month
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.
Posted in
Politics
Illegal voting in Texas likely to be a felony again after state House vote
The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers.
Posted in
Politics
Tarrant County’s daunting task: hiring a new elections chief to run the 2024 elections in Texas’ largest swing county
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.”
Posted in
Politics
Tarrant County’s lauded elections chief resigns, citing differences with new county executive
Heider Garcia, like many other election officials across the country, faced death threats that stemmed from lies about the outcome of the 2020 election.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas lawmakers take first steps to reverse course on costly requirement for election technology that doesn’t exist
The original provision was part of the state’s major overhaul to election laws in 2021.
Posted in
State Government
Texas may be about to scrap a voting security system it can’t replace
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate passes bill to make illegal voting a felony again
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.
Posted in
State Government
Conspiracy theory whirlwind threatens to blow Texas out of national program that keeps voter rolls updated
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas lawmakers take first step to restoring felony penalty for illegal voting
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.
