Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has responded to AG Paxtons ruling for the release of the confidential election ballot requests alleging that the Attorney General is “fueling conspiracy theories, encouraging reckless behavior eroding public trust in our democratic process” Most find Harris County Attorneys response as a bit odd, since the election ballots will just be inspected for transparency purposes and to bolster the public’s confidence in our election process. The ongoing fights against election audits in Harris County over the past two years has raised more than a few eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. Again, I have to ask, why do the local politicians in power continue to fight against transparency and allege that providing transparency “is a threat to our democracy”. It seems like the only threat Harris County is facing, is the severe lack of the transparency pertaining to elections and how the County and City’s funds are being spent.
As for the update on the election audit Brad Johnson of the Texan detailed the AG’s ruling response that the ballots can be inspected as long as the personable identifiable information is concealed.
“Even if [‘anonymous ballots’ cannot be publicly available], legislators may examine the voted ballots in light of [Texas code] granting a special right of access to legislators for legislative purposes, even to confidential records,” Krause asserts.
He then asks, “Thus, if a legislator requests to inspect or to obtain copies of anonymous voted ballots for legislative purposes, is the custodian of election records authorized to access such records for purposes of fulfilling the request?”
Paxton decided in the affirmative, writing, “By expressly requiring the custodian to provide public access to such records, the Legislature authorized entry into the locked ballot box for such purpose during the 22-month period.”
“Thus, members of the public and legislators may inspect or obtain copies of anonymous voted ballots during the 22-month preservation period.”
Below you can read Christian Menefeee’s response in full:
Let's hope A.G. Paxton enjoins Harris County from destroying the 2020 election records before Sept.3.
Democrats that are against the audit are like the hypocritical pharaciss and Jesus said to follow their words not their actions
What exactly should be be asking to see from Harris country elections? I am ready to email, but can't word it just right. Thanks!