TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — A judge in Travis County is set to make a big decision that could have monumental impacts on how Harris County elections will be run.
Senate Bill 1750, which was passed this year, would abolish the Harris County Elections Administrator's Office. It’s set to take effect September 1, but Harris County attorneys are hoping a judge will stop that.
Inside a Travis County courtroom Tuesday morning, Harris County attorneys were fighting against a law they say will wreak havoc on the upcoming November election.
“We're here today because of a political vendetta by a single senator in the Texas Senate who doesn’t like Harris County officials and wants to find ways to undermine them. That’s not how government should work," Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said.
The new law would abolish the Elections Administrator’s Office, returning the duties back to two elected county leaders. But Harris County believes the law is unconstitutional, saying it will only ever target one county.
“The Texas Constitution says you cannot pass laws that only apply to local government. You can’t pass what’s called a local law. The legislators have to pass laws that are applicable to the entire state," Menefee said.
So they have sued the state, including the Texas Attorney General’s Office, on those grounds, but with the law taking effect in less than three weeks, they’re hoping a judge will stop the law from going into effect until the lawsuit plays out.
Menefee said an injunction will keep the law from disrupting the upcoming November election.
“When you’re preparing for an election, you start nine months out and to turn that over to a new set of officials just weeks before the start of voting in a new election is going to be catastrophic," Menefee said.
Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum was in the courtroom Tuesday, along with his attorneys. He’s filed his own lawsuit against the county in hopes of keeping his job.
“On Sept. 1, without court intervention, his position is going to be abolished. So you have a big messy lawsuit that with folks working towards the same goal which is to get the courts to tell us whether SB 1750 is constitutional or not," Menefee said.
All other attorneys declined to comment after the hearing. Menefee is hopeful the judge will return her decision before the of the week.