{"id":2338449,"date":"2024-09-08T15:25:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T19:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-travis-county-using-taxpayer-money-on-partisan-identifying-unregistered-voters-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-08T15:39:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T19:39:55","slug":"lawsuit-travis-county-using-taxpayer-money-on-partisan-identifying-unregistered-voters-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-travis-county-using-taxpayer-money-on-partisan-identifying-unregistered-voters-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit: Travis County using taxpayer money on partisan identifying unregistered voters &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawsuit-travis-county-using-taxpayer-money-on-partisan-identifying-unregistered-voters-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2338449&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Travis County for allegedly misusing \u2063taxpayer funds to hire a vendor, Civic Government Solutions \u200b(CGS), to identify unregistered\u2064 voters. The lawsuit \u200cclaims that the county commissioners exceeded their legal authority by contracting with CGS, which specializes in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fighting-back-republican-creates-response-to-stacey-abrams-voter-organization-in-georgia-adds-focus-on-election-integrity\/\" title=\"Fighting Back: Republican Creates Response To Stacey Abrams\u2019 Voter Organization In Georgia, Adds Focus On \u2018Election Integrity\u2019\">voter outreach<\/a> and has ties to progressive \u2063political\u200b causes. The contract, approved during a public meeting, \u2062specifies that CGS will create \u200ba \u2063list of eligible voters \u200dand charges the county $3,562.80 for every 10,000 names. Paxton contends this use of public funds for what he describes as \u2063partisan activities is a violation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-attorney-phil-kline-and-it-expert-j-r-carlson-presser-wednesday-exposing-mark-zuckerbergs-dark-money-cash-for-chaos\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Attorney Phil Kline and IT Expert J.R. Carlson Presser Wednesday Exposing Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Dark Money Cash for Chaos\">state election law<\/a>. The lawsuit \u2063seeks an emergency injunction to \u200cprevent the county from proceeding with the contract, arguing it jeopardizes election integrity \u2063and may \u200blead to confusion and fraud.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Lawsuit: Travis County using taxpayer money on partisan identifying unregistered voters<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1755239\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued another county for allegedly violating state election law, this time, the Travis County Commissioners Court.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Travis County and names the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar, county judge and commissioners as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>On August 27, the commissioners court held a public meeting and approved the hiring of Civic Government Solutions to implement &ldquo;unregistered voter outreach services.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The contract tasks CGS with identifying &ldquo;any current Travis County resident that is at least 18 years of age, a US citizen and not already registered to vote.&rdquo; It also requires CGS to provide the county with a list of &ldquo;the resultant, Eligible Resident-Citizens and their current residence address and mailing address.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CGS was the sole bidder for the contract and is charging the county $3,562.80 per 10,000 names of eligible resident citizens as part of its &ldquo;unregistered voter outreach services,&rdquo; according to county records.<\/p>\n<p>CGS claims on its website to have the &ldquo;most comprehensive database of unregistered voters.&rdquo; It also claims to have a &ldquo;broad range of expertise, including data scientists, voting law experts, and mail logistics experience&rdquo; that enables it to &ldquo;deliver the market&rsquo;s most reliable and effective voter registration solutions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The company is run by Jeremy Smith, who also runs Civitech, according to Texas Comptroller data. Civitech has been described as &ldquo;a progressive data startup&rdquo; that worked with 40 organizations to recruit and train more than 2,700 &ldquo;new progressive candidates to run for office&rdquo; and registered more than 50,000 new voters in 2021, Axios reported.<\/p>\n<p>According to the ethics disclosure form filed with the county, CGS has made no political contributions and engaged in no lobbying activities although Smith has been characterized as a Democratic operative.<\/p>\n<p>Using taxpayer money to hire an alleged partisan vendor to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-ignores-demands-from-congress-and-watchdogs-for-voting-executive-order-documents\/\" title=\"Biden Admin Ignores Demands From Congress and Watchdogs for Voting Executive Order Documents\">conduct voter registration<\/a> and compilation services violates state election law and exceeds the county&rsquo;s statutory authority, Paxton argues.<\/p>\n<p>Travis County is not authorized by Texas law to do this, the lawsuit argues. It asks the court to issue an emergency injunction to stop county officials from &ldquo;giving a partisan organization thousands of taxpayer dollars to identify the names and addresses of potentially unregistered voters without statutory authority.&rdquo; It argues county officials&rsquo; actions &ldquo;will create confusion, facilitate fraud, undermine confidence in elections, and are illegal ultra vires acts because they exceed statutory authority.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Travis County has blatantly violated Texas law by paying partisan actors to conduct unlawful identification efforts to track down people who are not registered to vote,&rdquo; Paxton said. &ldquo;Programs like this invite fraud and reduce public trust in our elections. We will stop them and any other county considering such programs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paxton sued Travis County officials after suing Bexar County officials for approving a plan to spend nearly $400,000 to hire a company with alleged ties to the Democratic Party to print and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-sues-bexar-county-after-warning-about-election-fraud-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Paxton sues Bexar County after warning about election fraud - Washington Examiner\">distribute voter registration forms<\/a> to unregistered county residents. Prior to suing, Paxton issued a warning to cancel the plan and said if they didn&rsquo;t, he would sue.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit was also filed after Paxton, the Secretary of State and Gov. Greg Abbott all issued advisories to voters and county officials about not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maricopa-county-scrapping-voting-machines-used-in-gop-audit\/\" title=\"Maricopa County Scrapping Voting Machines Used In GOP Audit\">violating election law<\/a>, including registering noncitizens to vote or noncitizens voting.<\/p>\n<p>Texas also recently removed more than 1.1 million people from the voter rolls, including 6,500 noncitizens, 6,000 with felony convictions, and more than 457,000 deceased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1755239\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1755239\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>**Lawsuit: Travis County Misusing Taxpayer Funds for Partisan Voter Identification (The Center Square)** \u2013 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has initiated legal action against the Travis County Commissioners Court, claiming they have breached state election laws. The lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Travis County, targets the county&#8217;s Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar, as well as the county judge and commissioners. On August 27, during a public meeting, the commissioners court approved a contract with Civic Government Solutions (CGS) to provide &#8220;unregistered voter outreach services.&#8221; This agreement requires CGS to identify any current residents of Travis County who are at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and not registered to vote. Additionally, CGS must supply a list of these eligible residents along with their addresses.<\/p>\n<p>CGS was the only bidder for this contract and is charging $3,562.80 for every 10,000 names identified as eligible resident citizens under its outreach services. The company claims on its website to possess &#8220;the most comprehensive database of unregistered voters&#8221; and boasts expertise in data science and voting law that allows it to offer effective voter registration solutions. Jeremy Smith runs CGS alongside Civitech\u2014a progressive data startup known for helping recruit over 2,700 new progressive candidates and registering more than 50,000 voters in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Smith being labeled a Democratic operative by some sources, CGS has reported no political contributions or lobbying activities on its ethics disclosure form filed with the county. Paxton contends that using taxpayer funds to hire what he describes as a partisan vendor for voter registration efforts violates state election law and exceeds local authority under Texas law.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction to prevent county officials from allocating taxpayer money towards identifying potentially unregistered voters without proper statutory authority. It argues that such actions could lead to confusion and fraud while undermining public confidence in elections\u2014deemed illegal acts exceeding their legal powers.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton stated that &#8220;Travis County has blatantly violated Texas law by paying partisan actors&#8221; for unlawful identification efforts aimed at tracking down unregistered individuals. He emphasized that programs like this could invite fraud and diminish trust in electoral processes.<\/p>\n<p>This lawsuit follows another case where Paxton sued Bexar County officials over plans involving nearly $400K spent on hiring a company linked to Democrats for distributing voter registration forms among unregistered residents after warning them against proceeding with such plans.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, recent advisories from Paxton along with Secretary of State officials have cautioned against violating election laws related to noncitizen voting or registrations while Texas has removed over 1.1 million individuals from its voter rolls\u2014including noncitizens and deceased persons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2338450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AP24212575906029.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4585,40412,40411],"class_list":["post-2338449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-lawsuit","tag-taxpayer-money","tag-travis-county"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AP24212575906029.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2338449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2338450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2338449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2338449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2338449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}