The laws that make up the Texas Election Code are merely suggestions if breaking them has no consequences. It is imperative that our election laws have sharp teeth to ensure accuracy, transparency, and most importantly accountability. We must add more civil and criminal penalties and enhance the ones already on the books to deter negligence and criminal behavior.
Election Courts
Election officials, poll workers, vote harvesters, and others involved in the election process are subject to laws in an Election Code that is nuanced and complex. Petitions to the court must be handled quickly and correctly to stop potential fraud in real time. Candidates have very short windows to contest their elections. These are all reasons to have a court or several courts in Texas that are dedicated to election law.
Texas currently has criminal courts, civil courts, family courts, probate courts, juvenile courts, and more. These individualized courts benefit from the specialized knowledge of their judges, attorneys, and staff. Texas would benefit from courts dedicated to election law.
Civil Penalties
Another way to penalize lawbreakers is with civil enforcement. This would be especially effective in the case of Organized Election Fraud as defined in the Election Code. The state would be able to win a case with a lower burden of proof making it easier to go after the bigger fish, those higher up the ladder. Those in the higher tiers are the ones funding the operations, and a large civil penalty would leave them without the funds to continue the operation.
This type of penalty has already been working to ensure the accuracy of our voter rolls. In 2021 the Texas Legislature passed SB 1113 which gave the Secretary of State the authority to withhold funds from counties that failed to conduct proper list maintenance procedures. In an Interim Hearing of the House Elections Committee on August 26th, Christina Adkins, Elections Director for the SOS, testified that the monitoring and limited enforcement granted in the bill “has paid off” and that counties are “taking it seriously”. This simple bill is making a large impact by finally adding consequences to not maintaining the accuracy of our voter rolls.