Harris County sets up election protection legal taskforce ahead of election

Who's involved

• Abbie Kamin · Harris County Attorney^[1,2]
• Chad Dunn · Prominent voting rights attorney, outside counsel to Harris County^[1,2]
• Aaron Reitz · U.S. Attorney^[1,2]
• Greg Abbott · Governor of Texas^[1,2]
• Ken Paxton · Texas Attorney General^[1,2]
• Jacqueline Smith · Republican opponent to Abbie Kamin in re-election race^[1,2]

The facts

1. The taskforce includes former U.S. Department of Justice employees recruited for expertise in civil rights and voting rights^[1,2]
2. Kamin tapped prominent voting rights attorney Chad Dunn as outside counsel^[1,2]
3. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office challenges get-out-the-vote efforts in Harris County^[1,2]
4. Harris County faced intense scrutiny and state government intervention after the 2022 midterm election, when paper ballot shortages and offline voting machines led to long wait times and some voters being turned away at polling sites^[1,2]
5. Texas' Republican-led Legislature abolished Harris County's elections office in 2023 and gave the Secretary of State oversight to investigate election and voter registration complaints specifically in Harris County^[1,2]
6. In 2025, Governor Greg Abbott said Harris County 'should be stripped of operating elections' while referencing a Houston Public Media report about the local tax office finding more than 100 voter registrations linked to P.O. boxes in violation of state law^[1,2]
7. Kamin is a Democrat running for re-election against Republican opponent Jacqueline Smith^[1,2]

Who said what

• Abbie Kamin Whether it's the president's playbook of desperation, a corrupt state attorney general that may also get very desperate, or a governor that has failed Texans and made it very clear that he has bent the knee to the president regardless of the legality of a matter, we're not going to allow any agency at any level to trample on the rights of eligible voters^[1,2]
• U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz If you violate federal election law, I will hunt you down and prosecute you^[1,2]
• Travis County Attorney's Office spokeswoman Diana Melendez The office had consulted with counterparts in local jurisdictions and taken extra precautions to plan and anticipate scenarios that may impact a voter's protected right to cast their ballot^[1,2]