Travis County leaders defend efforts to register voters after Paxton lawsuit

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Travis County leaders are defending their efforts to register residents to vote after Attorney General Ken Paxton sued them. The AG is accusing them of spending public funds on a partisan voter registration company.

County leaders said they are trying to increase voter participation. Paxton said what they are doing is unlawful.

"Every time I say it in my head, it sounds ridiculous. Travis County has been sued for attempting to register eligible voters to vote," Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said.

RELATED: Texas AG Ken Paxton suing Travis County over voter participation program

Paxton filed a lawsuit earlier this month accusing the county of hiring a partisan organization to identify unregistered voters.

County officials said they put out a bid for the position and received one response.

"So, if we wanted the work done, that was our option," Travis County Judge Andy Brown said.

County commissioners approved and awarded the bid to Civic Government Solutions. In the lawsuit, Paxton sited their registrant contact’s website which claims the company’s goal is to "drive support for progressive causes and candidates" and that "[r]egistering the unregistered likely Democratic voters across the nation could be the key to securing Democratic victory in 2024."

"Registering people to vote and engaging in our democratic process is a cornerstone of our democracy and should not be a partisan issue," Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant said.

Paxton said the county doesn’t have the authority to contract with a vendor to identify and target potentially unregistered people who may or may not be eligible to vote.

Travis County leaders are fighting back. They have filed a complaint in federal court against Paxton and Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and said the state is attempting to violate the National Voter Registration Act.

"This is nothing new, but apparently this is new to the attorney general who's trying to stop me from doing the job that state law and federal law says I should be doing," Elfant said.

Texas ranks 45th in voter registration rate, according to the Elections Performance Index.

"Instead of working to increase participation in our elections, our state leaders are focusing on telling us election officials what we can't do," Elfant said.

The county hasn’t said how many voter registration forms have been mailed out already. They said if you did receive one, it is valid.

It’s unclear when or if the federal court will hold a hearing in this case.