Tag Archives: Tarrant County

I think you know the root cause of the problem, John

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I was fascinated by this Texas Monthly feature on Secretary of State John Scott, who is being pushed to reckon with the insane and dangerous levels of election denial and anti-democratic activism. I’m pretty sure he gets it, he just … Continue reading →

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Republicans for Collier

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Two of them, anyway. Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, one of Texas’ most prominent Republican local leaders, is backing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s Democratic challenger. “The one person who I’ll support statewide that will get me a little in trouble: … Continue reading →

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Paxton finds a new way to be two-faced

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, what were we supposed to believe? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stunned election administrators across the state last week when he released an opinion that, in theory, would allow anyone to access ballots almost immediately after they were … Continue reading →

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There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading →

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Election officials and workers need our help

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve identified the problem. That’s good. Now let’s do something to fix it. Misinformation about elections has led to violent threats against election workers in Texas and other states — including one who was told “we should end your bloodline” … Continue reading →

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Fraudit 2.0

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. Harris County will be one of four Texas counties to undergo an audit of its upcoming November election results by the Texas secretary of state’s office. It will be the second election audit in two years … Continue reading →

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There was definitely an improvement in mail ballot acceptance for the primary runoffs

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The last time I looked, I was largely unable to find any news stories about mail ballots and their rejection rates for the May primary runoff elections, with the exception of one story about Bexar County and how they were … Continue reading →

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On reporting election night results faster

Posted on May 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Ahead of next week’s primary runoff elections, Harris County officials are recruiting county staffers to help speed up the results by picking up ballots at polling locations and driving them to the county’s central count location. … Continue reading →

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Crystal Mason’s conviction to be reconsidered

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has told a lower appeals court to take another look at the controversial illegal voting conviction of Crystal Mason, who was given a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in … Continue reading →

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Sen. Powell ends her re-election bid

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Disappointing but understandable. State Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson, ended her reelection campaign Wednesday morning, citing an “unwinnable race” in a district that Republican lawmakers had redrawn to make a Democratic win impossible. “Under the new map that will remain intact … Continue reading →

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When a divorce helps to define a marriage

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting case. A gay San Antonio man has filed for a divorce in which he seeks to prove a common law marriage existed with his former partner of 25 years when federal law prohibited same sex marriage. The law has … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

When you get 91.34% of the vote in an election, as Beto did in the Democratic primary for Governor, there’s usually not a whole lot of interesting data beneath the surface. But you never know until you look, so I … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Final 2022 primary vote totals from those counties of interest

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

At the end of early voting, I posted some totals from various counties around the state. I noted at the time it was an imprecise comparison since I included final 2018 turnout numbers as the comparison point for 2022 and … Continue reading →

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2022 primary early voting statewide

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Turnout information for early voting for all counties is available on the Secretary of State website. They used to only have this for the 30 most populous counties, which skewed things in a Democratic direction, but a law passed in … Continue reading →

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The only constant is change

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This DMN story is about the wave of changes to the various legislative caucuses in North Dallas, but if you pull the lens back just a little, you can see how universal it is. Proponents of term limits complain that … Continue reading →

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No restraining order in SD10 lawsuit

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The March primary will officially proceed as scheduled. A federal three-judge panel in El Paso on Tuesday denied a request by Tarrant County residents to block a reconfigured state Senate district from being used in the upcoming March primary election … Continue reading →

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The SD10 redistricting lawsuit gets off to a rousing start

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I did not see this coming. In a sworn declaration submitted as part of an ongoing federal court challenge, a senior Republican state senator with redistricting experience said he believes his party violated federal voting laws when it drew new … Continue reading →

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SD10 lawsuit gets its hearing

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The last possible obstacle to a March primary, and the first redistricting lawsuit to get a merits hearing. A federal district judge in El Paso on Tuesday will preside over one of several challenges against the state of Texas and … Continue reading →

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Please watch over the fraudit

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good idea. A group of Democratic members of Congress from Texas has sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting that it closely monitor the ongoing election audit in four Texas counties. Last September, Texas Republicans began an audit in Harris, Tarrant, … Continue reading →

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Fraudit fizzling

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Who could have ever predicted this would be a big ol’ nothingburger? The Texas secretary of state’s office has released the first batch of results from its review into the 2020 general election, finding few issues despite repeated, unsubstantiated claims … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The new SBOE map

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Previously: New State House map, New Congressional map I probably care more about the SBOE than most normal people do. It’s not that powerful an entity, there are only 15 seats on it, and their elections go largely under the … Continue reading →

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Fraudit update

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, it’s still a thing. Texas Secretary of State John Scott announced late Friday that his office has presented an “exhaustive” document request to Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Harris counties as part of an audit of 2020′s election. Scott’s office … Continue reading →

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Crystal Mason using SB1 to try to overturn her illegal voting conviction

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Hope this works. It would be one small good thing to come out of that otherwise harmful law. Crystal Mason, the Tarrant County woman whose illegal voting conviction has garnered national attention, is asking for a Texas appeals court to … Continue reading →

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Fraudit funding

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s bullshit all the way down. GOP leaders on Friday approved shifting $4 million in emergency funds for the Texas secretary of state’s office to create an “Election Audit Division” at the agency, which will spearhead county election audits as … Continue reading →

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Sen. Powell sues over SD10

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Number six and counting. Tarrant County state Sen. Beverly Powell filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state Senate redistricting plan, marking the latest court challenge to Texas’ Republican-drawn political maps that secure the GOP’s grip on power for the … Continue reading →

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More redistricting stuff

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Just a roundup of some redistricting stories. We’ll start with the DMN. The new map, part of a process of redrawing legislative boundaries every 10 years, makes significant changes in North Texas, where Democrats likely will gain a seat held … Continue reading →

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The proposed State House map is out

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The last of the bunch. Texas House members on Thursday released the first proposal for a new map redrawing the chamber’s 150-member districts. The initial draft would both increase Republicans’ strength across the state and the number of districts in … Continue reading →

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A little sandbagging from the SOS on the fraudit

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Who’s running this show? In the five days since the Texas secretary of state’s office announced it is auditing the 2020 general election in four counties, local officials indicated they were in the dark about what the reviews would entail. … Continue reading →

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Initial Senate and SBOE maps approved by committee

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Still a lot of changes likely to come. A panel of lawmakers on Tuesday advanced draft maps of the Texas Senate and State Board of Education, sending both to the full upper chamber for further debate. The maps, both authored … Continue reading →

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More on the fraudit

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

My God, Greg Abbott is a wimp. Donald Trump’s letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott demanding he pursue an “audit” of the 2020 election set off a “mad dash” in the governor’s office as aides sought to figure out just … Continue reading →

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So we have a fraudit

Posted on September 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

What a load of crap. The Texas secretary of state’s office announced late Thursday that it has begun a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 general election in four Texas counties: Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant. But the statement from … Continue reading →

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Here’s your first proposed Senate map

Posted on September 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Behold. This dropped on Saturday afternoon while normal people were running errands or watching college football, so commentary and coverage is limited at this time. Here’s one view: . Some pretty drastic reconfigurations of state senate districts in Dallas and … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder, no one is enforcing Abbott’s mask mandate ban

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

In case you had forgotten. While Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is speaking out against mask mandates in schools and suing to stop some Texas school districts from enacting them, in reality his order banning such mandates has gone largely unenforced … Continue reading →

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Harris County gets its restraining order against Abbott

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Step one. A judge in Travis County on Friday granted Harris County a temporary restraining order, blocking Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on local COVID-19 restrictions. The decision by Judge Jan Soifer of the 345th Civil District Court provides legal cover … Continue reading →

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