It remains one damn thing after another.
El Paso County and Harris County on Monday sued the Department of Homeland Security alongside communities in Tennessee and Ohio over new requirements for federal grants that they argue undermine election security and public safety.
In June, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would withhold 20% of DHS’ Homeland Security Grant Program funds unless grantees complied with five requirements that would shift how local officials conduct their elections. The new requirements include a mandatory transition from voting machines that accept QR and bar codes to ones that take paper ballots, conducting manual ballot audits and running voter registration through DHS’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, better known as the SAVE system.
The SAVE system has repeatedly been flagged for misidentifying voters as noncitizens, however the Trump administration has nevertheless pushed for its use amid false claims that millions of noncitizens are registered to vote. In late July, Texas’ Secretary of State’s Office directed county officials to reinstate some of the 2,724 registered voters who were flagged as potential noncitizens by the SAVE system.
The counties and cities suing argued in their petition that implementing the requirements would cost millions and make their elections less secure, while placing roughly $200 million in grant funds at stake nationally.
“Implementing these onerous changes will require Plaintiffs to expend staff time and budgetary resources, and doing so in the hurried manner that the federal government seeks will undermine the sound administration of elections,” the suit read.
For Harris County in particular, the suit notes that a switch to paper ballots could push election officials into running afoul of state law, which requires counties to finish counting regular ballots within 24 hours of the polls closing.
The DHS grant, which cities and counties for decades have used to fund preparation and response materials for terrorist attacks and other security threats, is administered through FEMA. The counties also argued that withholding funds could jeopardize the safety of cities that rely on specialized training and supplies paid for by the grant.
“Local election offices already face some of the toughest oversight and requirements designed to keep their operations safe and secure,” El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez said in a statement. “Imposing additional requirements is both costly and burdensome, while our law enforcement agencies rely on this funding to purchase critical equipment that helps protect and save lives.”
The suit also argues that DHS lacks the authority to condition grant funds on changes to local election procedure without congressional approval. Monday’s filing follows a similar suit in July from a coalition of Democratic states over DHS’ requirements with similar concerns.
I mean, this is the same bullshit from the Trump administration in another package. It not only has nothing to do with election integrity, it would make things worse. We all know what the score is. The good news is that these guys have been on a long losing streak with stuff like this in the courts. That’s not a guarantee that SCOTUS or the Fifth Circuit won’t step in with their own bullshit, but it’s where we are now. Fighting has been a big success overall, and it’s what this moment demands. The press release from Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin about this is beneath the fold.
Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin has filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. challenging the Trump Administration’s latest illegal attempt to hijack local elections.
The lawsuit, filed alongside counties and municipalities across the nation, fights an illegal attempt by Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withhold critical public safety grant funding intended for counterterrorism and emergency response unless Harris County makes burdensome, costly, and illegal changes to its elections’ procedures. These changes include altering voter rolls using a notoriously unreliable federal database, transitioning from the current electronic voting systems to hand-marked paper ballots, and conducting costly post-election audits according to yet-to-exist guidelines. By law, the Trump Administration has no legal authority to unilaterally force these election changes on Harris County.
“This is the kind of federal overreach we’ve come to expect from the Trump Administration—threatening to withhold critical law enforcement and public safety funding, as well as counter-terrorism programs our public safety agencies rely on. Withholding dollars that protect our communities for a partisan power grab is not only improper, it’s dangerous,” said County Attorney Kamin. “Our democracy depends on local control over elections, and we must vigorously guard against any attempt to upend it.”
The Houston region receives grant funding through the Urban Area Security Initiative, a $584 million program to enhance regional preparedness and capabilities in designated high-threat, high-density areas. These funds are regularly used for purchasing law enforcement equipment, sustaining terrorism education programming, and tracking chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive matter in the region.
This latest effort is part of a series of moves by the Trump Administration to interfere with local elections, including attempts to derail mail-in voting, that stand to disenfranchise voters.
The latest lawsuit can be read here.