Top Red State Official Files Emergency Voter Lawsuit

AG Ken Paxton Files Emergency Lawsuit Amid ‘Unlawful’ Voter Registration Initiatives

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed emergency motions in lawsuits against two counties regarding “unlawful” voter registration programs. These motions were prompted by one of the targeted registration programs sending an unsolicited voter registration form to a woman who died in 1980.

The lawsuits are against Travis and Bexar counties. AG Paxton has stated that “These counties have already sought to avoid judicial review of their blatantly illegal election programs.” Voter registration forms in Bexar county are allowed to be sent by a third-party vendor, Civic Government Solutions.

An organization known as Election Mail Service was connected to Civic Government Solutions when registration forms sent to already-registered Bexar County citizens included Civic Government Solutions’ email address.

Election Mail Service is a known project of Texas-based corporation Civitech. Civitech’s official blog openly discusses targeting eligible but unregistered voters for the purpose of increasing Democrat voter turnout.

Civitech’s blog also discusses their “proprietary database” that allows them to “identify tens of millions of potential voters who have been overlooked in previous outreach efforts”. They also explicitly focus on “unregistered likely Democratic voters”.

Alabama, Ohio, and North Carolina have all released warnings regarding Civitech’s partisan voter registration efforts. Former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill specifically noted that Civitech seems to be using an “outdated” voter mailing list, which includes “voters who are already registered” and “individuals who have passed away and were already removed from [Alabama’s] rolls.”

Civitech has stated to the Bexar County’s Commissioners Court that Civic Government Solutions is non-partisan. Bexar County Judge Antonia Arteaga rendered Paxton’s suit against Civic Government Solutions moot, as Civic Government Solutions had already completed its contract.

Travis County has countersued Paxton, alleging that the initial lawsuit violated the National Voter Registration Act. Both counties are being sued for using government funds to hire Civic Government Solutions to register voters.

Bexar County Elections Administrator Jaquelyn Callanen warned the Bexar County’s Commissioners Court against using third-party voter registration services, even presenting evidence of dead and already-registered voters receiving prefilled registration forms. However, the court voted to fund Civic Government Solutions anyway.

Louise O’Connor, who died in 1980 and is buried in Austin, received a voter registration form at her daughter’s address. Austin is partially in Travis County.

All State District Court and 3rd Court of Appeals judges in Travis County are Democrats, as well as all Travis County representatives in the Texas House of Representatives. Bexar County voted 58.20% Democrat in the 2020 Presidential Election.

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