Harris County sues to stop Texas law abolishing its elections office

July 6 (UPI) -- Harris County, Texas, officials said Thursday that the county intends to challenge a new state law that abolishes its elections office.

The new state law, signed two weeks ago, eliminates the elections administrator position established by Harris County Commissioners Court in June 2021 and returns election duties to the two elected offices that previously held them, the county clerk and the tax assessor-collector.

Harris County Attorney General Christian Menefee has argued that the law unfairly targets his county.

"This will eliminate the job of our current elections administrator, Clifford Tatum," Menefee said, according to Houston Public Media. "And it means that more than 150 county employees are going to have to undergo substantial changes, another major change, in just a three-year time period."

Tatum, has faced extensive scrutiny after about 20 polling places ran out of ballot paper on Election Day last November, according to the Houston Chronicle. While the shortage was small, 20 Republican candidates who lost their races, challenged the results.

Gov. Greg Abbott's new law initially applied to counties with more than one million residents, but was later narrowed down to only Harris County.

"For nearly 100 years, Texas law has prohibited laws that apply to only one locale and can never again in the future apply to another locale," Menefee said. "Our Legislature here in the State of Texas should be focused on passing laws that make life better for all of Texas, not targeting one county because its leaders look differently and think differently than the folks in Austin."