Overview
- Gov. Greg Abbott said Harris County should be stripped of running elections and that potential legal charges should be considered, citing election integrity concerns.
- Interim County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne responded that the governor lacks authority to seize control of county elections or pursue criminal charges against election officials.
- Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Annette Ramirez reported more than 120 registrations tied to private P.O. boxes were flagged and are under review, with the Secretary of State acknowledging the office’s corrective actions in a Dec. 23 letter.
- State Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Secretary of State Jane Nelson have not alleged that the address issues resulted in illegal votes or affected outcomes, and state law includes limited exceptions for using nonresidential addresses.
- County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth requested Houston Police at all voting sites and is coordinating through the Election Security Task Force, noting the Clerk runs election operations while the Tax Assessor manages voter registration and that the office has conducted 12 elections since September 2023.