Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin claims that President Donald Trump is trying to sow chaos and confusion by imposing illegal requirements on mail ballots ahead of the November midterms, so she joined a lawsuit this week in an effort to stop him.
“We are seeing attempt after attempt to illegally interfere with the rights of voters of all political creeds and affiliations,” Kamin told the Houston Press.
Trump issued an order on March 31 that directs federal agencies to create state-specific lists of individuals verified as U.S. citizens and eligible to vote.
That’s already caused problems in Texas, where just last week, the Secretary of State’s Office announced that some of the 2,724 registered voters who were identified as potential noncitizens through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements were flagged incorrectly and should be immediately reinstated.
Trump’s order further directs the U.S. Postal Service to develop rules under which it would deliver mail-in and absentee ballots only for voters who appear on the eligibility list. The Department of Justice has been directed to prioritize enforcement of federal election laws.
“The concept that the postal service, at the direction of the president, could intercept mail ballots and refuse to deliver them to be counted is illegal,” Kamin said. “The attempt to hijack the postal service to disenfranchise voters is despicable. This is an intentional effort to interfere with elections across this country.”
An injunction was issued by a U.S. district judge in Massachusetts on June 25 and Trump appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the case is now being litigated. The order won’t take effect while it’s under review by the Supreme Court, and Kamin said SCOTUS could issue a ruling within a week.
Kamin argues in her amicus brief that the Constitution gives primary authority over election administration to states and Congress, not the president, and the U.S. Postal Service doesn’t have legal authority to determine who is eligible to vote.
Those who support Trump’s executive order say it protects the integrity of mail voting and prevents noncitizens from casting ballots.
Since 2010, just one case of voter fraud has been prosecuted in Harris County and resulted in two misdemeanor convictions, Kamin said. The May 2016 incident involved an election clerk who cast a ballot in her daughter’s name, although the daughter was not present at the polling location. Another clerk assisted with the process, and both were sentenced to serve one day in jail.
“Even the Heritage Foundation, which is a far-right think tank, admits that, going back to 2005, only 116 adjudicated cases [of voter fraud existed] across the entire state of Texas,” Kamin said. “It’s critical that elections are secure, but there’s an attempt to sow mistrust in a way that suggests they’re not secure. What’s happening is that hundreds of thousands of eligible voters whose right it is in this nation to vote are being disenfranchised through these illegal and unconstitutional efforts to interfere with our elections.”
The effort to suppress mail-in ballots isn’t the only challenge anticipated in the November general election.
Efforts are underway in Tarrant County to reduce the number of polling locations from 316 to 176. Democratic candidates including lieutenant governor hopeful Vikki Goodwin and attorney general nominee Nathan Johnson advocated against the measure at Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, saying it would create longer lines and deter people from voting.
At a meeting of the Oak Forest Area Democrats on Monday, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said he, Kamin and County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth all anticipate that there could be difficulties with the November election, implying that some Republicans appear interested in creating chaos.
“We’ve got outside counsel that’s advising on this,” Teare said. “I hate to even use this term, but we are wargaming. We are going through scenarios now on being prepared for the inevitable. Are they going to put masked ICE agents 101 feet from polling locations as a show of force and intimidation? Would anybody be surprised by that? How will we handle it when one of those armed men gets 99 feet away?”
He explained that Kamin will handle the civil matters and file injunctions as needed. “What I can promise everybody is there will not be a county more prepared for every potential outcome,” Teare said.
Harris County voters are already requesting mail-in ballots, as the early voting period for the November 3 election starts on October 19. Currently, Texas law allows eligible voters to request mail ballots up to 11 days before an election.
Those eligible to vote by mail are residents who are 65 and older; people with disabilities that prevent them from being able to go to a polling location; pregnant women within three weeks of delivery; and people who will be absent from the county on Election Day, including those who are deployed in the military.
“There are very limited and very legitimate reasons why people would take the opportunity to vote by mail,” Kamin said, noting that more than 60,000 Harris County voters cast ballots by mail in the last general election.
“What this executive order would require is the state to submit lists of eligible voters to the postal service and then the postal service would be prohibited from sending anyone a ballot who is not on the list,” Kamin added. “But you have to submit those before the voter registration deadline, before the 11-day deadline. How is that going to work? It’s nonsensical. It’s an intentional effort to stop people from voting who have every right to vote.”
