Texas gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines | Huffines' Facebook page
Texas gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines | Huffines' Facebook page
Isabel Longoria, Harris County's elections administrator, and Cathy Morgan, a volunteer deputy registrar, have asked a federal judge to block Senate Bill 1 because of its ban on sending unsolicited mail-in ballots.
The lawsuit claims that the mail-in ballot provision interferes with their right to free speech and their ability to do their jobs.
Passed in a special session in 2021, SB 1 says that if an election administrator receives an application for a mail-in ballot with a signature that doesn't match the signature on file, the administrator can still accept the application if it has a correct Social Security number or driver's license number.
Critics of the legislation, including gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines, have expressed concerns that vote harvesters will be able to steal or purchase social security numbers and driver's license numbers and fill out fraudulent ballots, according to Texas Scorecard. Critics also point out that SB 1 reduces punishment for voter fraud.
“We know there’s fraud in our elections, but few individuals are ever held accountable. When I am governor, we will prioritize the prosecution of individuals who flout our laws and try to cheat in our elections,” Huffines told the North Coastal News.
According to a report by the Austin-American Statesman, several other provisions of SB 1 have led to challenges in a half-dozen lawsuits by civil rights groups and the U.S. Justice Department, citing a ban on 24-hour and drive-thru voting, ID requirements for mail-in ballots and protections for partisan poll watchers.
Huffines' opponent is Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Elected in 2014, Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
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