The Republican “Big Lie” for Texas is now being orchestrated in Texas. Votebeat reported that a legal opinion by indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton allows anyone to examine ballots right after the election. Right after the election? This clearly destroys the custodial and preservation period required by Texas law for our ballots and opens the window for potential criminal exposure to election officials.
State and federal law require that ballots be secured for 22 months after an election for possible recount and challenges. This law has been in place in Texas for decades. Paxton’s opinion doesn’t carry the force of the law, but it does allow for anyone such as an aggrieved voter or out-of-state-entity to call into question the election and access ballots as soon as the day after they are counted. Remember the 2020 election recount in Arizona’s largest county by Republicans that revealed absolutely no wrongdoing?
Will every Democratic county in Texas be the next target for these “Big Lie” deniers in November? Has the Texas Republican Party now become the party of chicanery and chaos?
Diane Teter
Edinburg
