Election Integrity Theater

He bragged after 2020 that Trump would have lost Texas if he did not intervene. Now he’s out with this today. pic.twitter.com/k52qgDQJqy

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 4, 2024

Ken Paxton wants to check on who’s voting because the Feds can’t do that anymore. He’s interested in “election integrity” the same way Abbott is:

Mary Howard-Elley fervently believes illegal immigration in the U.S. is a critical problem that only former President Donald Trump can solve. She says the continuation of his border wall and promised mass deportations will make the country safer. 

She agrees with Trump’s unfounded claims that Democrats are opening the borders to allow noncitizens to vote, fearing that it could ultimately cost him the election. 

Howard-Elley didn’t pay much attention when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott helped fuel that narrative by announcing that the state had removed thousands of supposed noncitizens from its rolls, claiming some had a history of voting. 

Then the U.S. citizen learned she was among them. 

The retired Transportation Security Administration agent was confused by how the county could come to that conclusion. And she seethed at the idea that anyone would question the citizenship of a former federal employee with the “whitest name you could have.” 

The elections office in Montgomery County, just north of Houston, had sent Howard-Elley a letter in late January saying that she had been flagged after she indicated that she was not a U.S. citizen in response to a jury summons. She had 30 days to provide the county proof of citizenship or she would be removed from the voter rolls, according to the letter. 

“Who is allowing people to do this to United States citizens? I understand we have a problem with immigration, but come on now,” Howard-Elley said in an interview.

Before you ask, no, she never figured out that if it happened to her, that’s the problem. But to cut to the chase: she got a jury summons and called to be excused because she is the guardian for her grandchildren. Apparently someone in the office she called recorded her exemption as “non-citizen,” because based on those records, her voter registration was purged.

She got it reinstated because she got a lawyer and local TV station to convince the county officials that it was the law in Texas (it is). And she’s still voting Republican because…well, not the point. The point is, Abbott’s very public campaign to purge in-citizens from voter rolls hasn’t been shown to actually net any such persons in the rolls. It’s just as likely to catch people like Ms. Howard-Elley.

9 million people have already voted in Texas. Harris County expects 500,000 voters on Election Day. And where is Paxton going to place all those poll watchers?

Probably in areas where non-whites are predominantly registered to vote. Certainly in the Democrat-dominant major urban counties. Feature, not bug. 

Early voting in Harris County can be done at any polling location in the county. But on Election Day you have to go to the location established for your voting precinct. That’s a number printed on your registration card (which you otherwise don’t need anymore), at a location that change for every election, which means you have to look it up before you go. Old school voter suppression, IOW. And probably the reason so many people vote early. I certainly never worry about where I have to vote. The same county building is available for early voting every time.

There are many more voting locations on Election Day, IOW. And probably fewer people showing up in all those scattered locations. So what’s Paxton’s point? Election integrity? Yeah, right. This is “integrity theater,” because he wants some of that publicity Abbott got. He also doesn’t want to hassle crowds of white voters in early voting locations. Much better to pick the non-white locations on Election Day. Even if he finds nothing; he’ll just say he kept the elephants away.

I just wish Texas voters would vote to do the same.