"unlawful" mailings?

Texas Supreme Court temporarily halts Harris County mail-in ballot applications

Houston Harris County voters voting booth

The move affects more than 2 million registered voters.

Photo courtesy of ABC13

The Harris County Clerk has been ordered to temporarily halt sending unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to more than 2 million registered voters.

The Texas Supreme Court handed down the order Wednesday, September 2, after state Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to derail County Clerk Chris Hollins' plan.

Paxton claims the mailings are unlawful because under Texas law, mail-in ballots are reserved for voters who are 65 and older and voters who are disabled.

Earlier this year the Texas Supreme Court ruled that having a fear of COVID-19 does not qualify as "disabled."

Last week, county commissioners voted to give County Clerk Chris Hollins the funding to send every registered voter in Harris County an application by mail.

The vote drew immediate disapproval from Republican senator Paul Bettencourt who asked the secretary of state for an opinion.

Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins released the following statement:

Our lines of communication are open, and I'm happy to meet with the Secretary of State and any other important stakeholders about our plans to share information about voting by mail with all registered voters. Along with an application, each voter will receive detailed information about who qualifies to vote by mail and who doesn't. If the Secretary of State would take the time to meet with us instead of jumping into court, they would see that the information we plan to share with voters provides clarity about voters' rights and eligibility to vote by mail.

"The vast majority of people on the voter rolls don't qualify for a mail-in ballot," said Bettencourt. "They're not 65, not sick, etc. Not only is it a waste of taxpayer money, a big waste of money, I believe it's not actually authorized under the code and the secretary of state letter confirms that."

In a letter sent to Hollins, the SOS said, in part:

At a minimum, sending an application to every registered voter will confuse voters about their ability to vote by mail. Earlier this year and continuing, there have been a number of lawsuits challenging the fact that Texas law requires a reason to vote by mail. Thus far the challenged law remains the same in spite of these lawsuits. An official application from your office will lead many voters to believe they are allowed to vote by mail, when they do not qualify.

The letter further gave Hollins a Monday deadline 31 to comply, or he would face legal action.

Harris County commissioner Rodney Ellis, who voted to give Hollins the funding to mail out the ballot applications, said the disapproval from the senator is nonsense.

"What I think is that senator Bettencourt needs to focus to get more people to vote for his side, then to suppress the vote," said Ellis. "We are well within the law. You can go online right now and apply for a mail-in ballot. All we're doing is sending people the application."

Hollins released the following statement regarding the issue: "Providing more information and resources to voters is a good thing, not a bad thing. We have already responded to the Secretary of State's office offering to discuss the matter with them."

Those who have not registered to vote have until October 5 to do so.

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For more on this story, including video, visit our news partner ABC13.

city-news-roundup politics

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”