HOUSTON – Texas Senate Bill 1750 went into effect Friday, abolishing the Election Administrator’s Office.
The bill will also return election management to the Harris County Clerk’s Office and voter registration to the county’s Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office.
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Communications Director Laura Arandas-Smith held a news conference at 2 p.m. to discuss the transition.
“While this law presents a considerable challenge, as an experienced former election official familiar with the demanding work of running elections, I am confident Harris County can administer well-organized, transparent, fair and successful elections now and in the future,” Hudspeth said. “My duty as a chief election official is to run elections with a non-partisan spirit, provide all voters with the information, materials and assistance needed to vote, and work to strengthen voters’ confidence in our elections.”
Hudspeth said that before being elected to county clerk, she spent 15 years of her career as an election official.
“I’m bringing with me an experienced team combined with the talent that already exists in the office,” Hudspeth said.
Over the last few months, Hudspeth said she has worked with the Elections Administrator’s Office in addition to others to ensure a “smooth transition of assets, employees, and records in accordance to SB1750.” She said she’ll continue to strategically access the current election practices and equipment in hopes of moving new election plans forward.
“There is no magic formula to remedy what has gone awry in the last three years since the conduct of elections was removed from the county clerk’s office,” Hudspeth said. “There is only plenty of work ahead of us all and a great commitment on my part to enable all eligible voters the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.”
“While this change may present challenges to our office, we are prepared for any difficulties that may arise during this time,” Arandas-Smith said. “And this morning, we were able to welcome 39 voter registration employees to our office. It was pretty exciting. Many of these individuals have been working for voter registration for over two decades.”
Arandas-Smith said the new team in the tax office consists of people who have worked exclusively in large elections.
SB1750 was authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who cited Harris County election problems as a catalyst for the legislation.
In a July news conference, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee argued that the law, which applies only to Harris County, violates the Texas Constitution.
“For nearly 100 years Texas law has prohibited laws that apply to only one locale and can never again in the future apply to another locale. That’s exactly what SB 1750 does,” Menefee said.
The Harris County elections administrator position, created by the county in 2020, is a nonpartisan position appointed by local elected officials.
In last November’s general election, Harris County had to extend voting after numerous polling places reported paper ballot shortages and long waiting periods.
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