Houston, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) commented favorably on the Texas Supreme Court’s decision to deny Harris County’s emergency motion for temporary relief (TRO) regarding of the implementation of Senate Bill 1750. “This bill has always been about performance not politics. I commend the Texas Supreme Court on their decision to restore voter trust, accountability, and transparency in Harris County elections,” stated Senator Bettencourt. “September 1st was designed for an orderly transition and Harris County wasted a lot of time with this TRO.” He added.

SB 1750 was drafted after serious election irregularities during the 2022 Harris County elections managed by appointed Elections Administrators (EA). During the 2022 primary election the first appointed EA “found” 10,000 votes and released a statement at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night that led to her resignation. Then on November 8, 2022, Harris County’s second appointed EA failed to deliver enough paper ballot sheets to allegedly 120 voting centers, as reported by KHOU despite having millions of paper ballots available for distribution in an EA office warehouse.

SB 1750 will return power and duties of the Harris County Elections Administrator to the County Tax Assessor-Collector and County Clerk. Under SB 1750, the County Tax Assessor-Collector will serve as the voter registrar and the election administration duties will revert to the County Clerk.

SB 1750 will now go into effect September 1, 2023.

“The oral arguments on the motion aren’t even scheduled until after the November election. Harris County wasted the better part of the summer on this frivolous lawsuit. They need to follow the law and make the transfer complete as of September 1st so that the election in November can be run properly. They must transfer the duty of managing elections back to the elected County Clerk and Tax Assessor-Collector now! Which is why the bill intended to give them the entire summer to make this happen.” Concluded Senator Bettencourt.

See previous Press Releases for more information on SB 1750.

• Sen. Bettencourt & Rep. Cain file bill to return Management of Elections back to Elected Officials
• Senator Bettencourt’s bill returns Harris County Elections back to Elected Officials!
• Sen. Bettencourt’s bills return Harris County Elections from EA back to Elected Officials passes!
• Statement from Senator Bettencourt in response to Harris County News Conference with Attorney Christian D. Menefee about the County’s “Legal Strategy” following the passage of SB 1750 & SB 1933

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