Voting Rights

The move comes after Secretary of State Jane Nelson said state law bars federal monitors from being inside polling locations. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office also wants to block monitors from future elections.

Under a little-known Texas elections law, state prison inmates who are actively appealing their convictions are eligible to register and vote.

Investigators surveyed 14 polling places in the county last year and found some didn't meet all the department's accessibility requirements.

Abbott said more than a million people have been taken off Texas voter rolls since 2021, a reform that he said cracks down on illegal voting. But local voting officials said voter roll removal is routine.

A federal judge has struck down provisions in Texas' new law that set limits on how people can help voters cast their ballots.

Democrats in Texas feel they have a real chance of winning several big elections in November, including the governor’s race. But delegates want stronger, more cohesive messaging.

In March, an attorney sued Austin City Council members on behalf of a dozen residents. He argued roughly 24,000 people who had been moved into new council districts as part of the city’s redistricting efforts had been denied their right to elect a local representative.

At the time Mason voted in 2016, she was on supervised release from prison after serving time on federal tax evasion charges. She received a five-year sentence for illegal voting.

The U.S. Senate could consider the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as this week. Last week, Senate Republicans blocked the Freedom To Vote Act, a different election-related bill.

The Austin-based group says a number of laws recently passed by the Legislature limits Texans' rights when it comes to voting, teaching and access to abortion.