Controversial Texas Bill Grants Power to Overturn Elections

Texas lawmakers have advanced a bill that would allow the secretary of state to overturn the results of an election in Harris County, the state's largest county, and order a new one if 2% or more of the polling locations ran out of ballot paper for more than an hour. The bill only applies to counties with a population over 2.7 million, which only includes Harris County. The bill follows criticism by Republican lawmakers over polling issues in the county during the 2022 midterm elections. Democrats won a closely watched contest for Harris County judge in November, and the voting issues are now the subject of a lawsuit in the state.