Judge dismisses Texas attorney general’s attempt to stop county from mailing registration forms to unregistered voters

By Ashley Killough, CNN

(CNN) — A district court judge in San Antonio ruled against the Texas attorney general’s attempt to stop one of the state’s biggest counties from mailing voter registration applications to a large number of unregistered voters.

Judge Antonia Arteaga on Monday dismissed a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton as moot, since Bexar County had already mailed out the applications.

County commissioners approved a plan on September 3 to mail roughly 210,000 applications through a contract with an outside vendor. Paxton, a Republican, had warned of legal action if Bexar County moved forward with its plan to work with the vendor, Civic Government Solutions, and filed a lawsuit the next day.

The attorney general argued in his challenge that it was illegal for the county to arrange for the unsolicited, mass mailing of voter registration applications.

But county officials felt confident they were on solid legal ground and moved forward with their plan. The applications were mailed by the end of last week, according to county officials.

“Our position from the very beginning was that the commissioners had every right to do what they did, and we are very pleased with the judge’s ruling today,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales told reporters after the hearing, according to CNN affiliate KABB.

Paxton’s office filed a notice of appeal Monday night. His office argued that Bexar County rushed to mail the applications before the hearing took place and expressed concern that some recipients may be ineligible to vote. In a statement, he vowed to “fight every step of the way to hold (the county) accountable.”

“In a display of bad faith, Bexar County engaged in dirty tricks to avoid appropriate judicial review of a clearly unlawful program that invites voter fraud,” Paxton said in the statement.

Paxton has filed a similar suit against Travis County, which includes Austin, as part of a large-scale effort by Republican leaders in Texas against largely Democratic cities that are trying to make voting easier and more accessible.

His office also launched an election integrity unit in 2018 investigating allegations of voter fraud, but it has yielded few convictions.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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