Austin, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and Representative Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) filed SB 1750 & HB 3876 to restore voter trust, accountability, and transparency in large county elections by returning the management of elections back to elected officials. “Voters should have confidence in their elections, and when they see Harris County Elections Administrators botch election after election in 2022 that confidence is shaken.” Said Senator Bettencourt. “Let’s return Harris County Elections to the way it used to work with the County Clerk and Tax Assessor Collector!” He added.

Currently, Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, and Collin County elections are run by appointed Election Administrators (EA). There is nearly no oversight from County Election Commissions. SB 1750 & HB 3876 will return power and duties of the EA to the County Tax Assessor-Collector and County Clerk in counties with populations over one million. Under SB 1750 & HB 3876 the County Tax Assessor-Collector will serve as the voter registrar and the election administration duties will revert to the County Clerk. With elections under two different elected officials, the cost of an independent department will go away and the broad support from the rest of the office will provide professionalism, consistency, and stability to the election staff. Former House Election Committee Chair Representative Briscoe Cain had this to say:

“The Elections Administrator experiment in Harris County has failed. It doesn’t matter which election or Election Administrator – Texans know that Harris County will have issues and won’t report returns accurately or on time. As larger counties try to use this position as another bureaucrat meant to grow government, it’s important that voters have a say in who is running their elections. These counties have had ample opportunities to justify this position. The only thing they have done is dodge questions and find a way to blame someone else.” Said Representative Cain.

On November 8, 2022, Harris County’s EA failed to deliver enough paper ballots to over 120 voting centers, as reported by KHOU 11 (https://www.khou.com/video/news/investigations/khou-11-analysis-election-ballot-paper-shortage-bigger-than-estimated/285-3806ba23-a4f5-4ed2-8b41-cc0ad4c18861), despite having millions of paper ballots available for distribution in an EA office warehouse. Now, the EA and the County Judge who appointed him are refusing to answer questions from the public despite the thousands of Election Irregularities that occurred, which led to a record 21 election challenges filed in Harris County.

“In 2022 the former Harris County Election Administrator ‘found’ 10,000 votes and released a statement at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night that led to her resignation. Then the current Elections Administrator either wouldn’t or couldn’t get millions of paper ballots out of the warehouse and to the polls with thousands of voters being turned away for lack of ballots. The Nation’s third largest county cannot have third world elections anymore! Bring back accountability and elected officials running elections.” Concluded Senator Bettencourt.

SB 1750 is the latest Election Integrity legislation Senator Bettencourt filed this session. He will file more Election Integrity legislation soon. See previous press releases for more information.

• Senator Bettencourt reacts to record number of election challenges filed in Harris County
• Senator Bettencourt Reacts to Harris County Election Administrator Longoria's Resignation Effective July 1, 2022

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