Texas Republicans Sue to Stop Harris County Voting Reminders and Demand a Statewide Hand Count Days Before Election Day

WASHINGTON, DC – With Election Day four days out, Texas Republicans are in court trying to slow the vote down. On Thursday, Ken Paxton’s Attorney General’s office sued the Harris County Clerk over social media ads that do nothing more than urge people to make a plan to vote.

A Capital Research Center staffer is now publicly taking credit for the lawsuit. Capital Research Center is the same group whose president appeared in 2000 Mules, the election conspiracy film so thoroughly debunked that its publisher pulled it and apologized to a Georgia voter it falsely branded a criminal. Capital Research also spent years pushing the “Zuck Bucks” conspiracy against grants that helped local election offices safely run the 2020 election, a conspiracy theory the FEC rejected with a resounding 6-0 vote when it came before them.

Meanwhile, the Potter County Republican Party asked a federal judge to block certification until every Texas ballot is counted by hand, without offering any proof that voting machines have been compromised. Texas already requires hand audits of paper ballots, and experts say full hand counts produce more errors. The case landed with Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee and a favorite of Paxton’s office.

“Texas Republicans are so terrified of voters that they’re suing a county clerk for reminding people to vote,” said Mally Smith, Try And Stop Us Senior Adviser. “Paxton’s office is running with a smear from Capital Research Center, the same crew that peddled 2000 Mules and the Zuck Bucks hoax, while a Panhandle GOP group wants a Trump judge to order millions of ballots counted by hand with zero evidence of a single problem. They’re desperate and full of shit. Texas elections are secure, every eligible vote will be counted, and these last-minute stunts won’t change a thing.”