County’s election system needs an overhaul
The current election system in Harris County is a relic of Jim Crow and is as much of an insult to voters as having to walk into a polling center named after Robert E. Lee.
That is why the Harris County Commissioners Court has voted to create the Office of Elections Administration, bringing together the election duties currently split between the county clerk and tax assessorcollector into a single office. This new system will erase the legacy of a historically inequitable and discriminatory system and transition us to one focused solely on improving the security, transparency, and efficiency of county elections and voter registration.
The good will and good intentions of current officeholders does not erase a poisonous past, and failure to change now could allow future, less well-intended, office holders to do great damage.
From 1902 to 1966, Texas engaged in suppressing the votes of minorities by requiring citizens to pay a fixed sum in order to cast a ballot. The tax assessorcollector office was given control of voter registration during this time because it could determine whether or not you had paid your poll tax. Currently, there are still Harris County voters who submit their registration to the same office that for so many years collected those discriminatory poll taxes.
We have not yet ended the spirit or strategies that came from those laws designed to oppress people of color. Elected officials have in our recent past used the office of tax assessor-collector to purge minority voters from registration rolls — compromising the personal data of thousands of individuals. Others have used the office to target specific political groups — often those who are working to lift up underrepresented communities — all part of an effort to intimidate them from participating at all.
Moving the election administration functions out of the tax assessor-collector office sends a strong signal that Texas is moving away from a contemptible past. A neutral and nonpartisan administrator will increase election integrity and increase voters’ trust in the process. It would also make our elections more responsive to the needs of a growing county.
Currently, the election process in Harris County is bifurcated with functions placed in separate offices under the control of different elected officials. In the very recent past, Harris County has had welldocumented improper actions taken during elections. Voters have been wrongly suspended from the rolls, they have had their registration assigned to the incorrect election precinct, and they have endured egregious delays at the polls. During elections this year, some stood in line over six hours at a Texas Southern University polling location waiting to exercise their right to participate in our democracy.
Election administration has evolved, and the amount of technology involved in the process has changed the landscape. The administration of elections should be done by technicians and professionals. Because of the monumental role that elections play in the maintenance of our democracy and the importance of getting every aspect right, we can no longer continue to rely on offices to run them that must serve multiple roles and responsibilities in government. Moving elections and voter registration under one department will increase efficiency, allow for employees to focus solely on elections, and allow for more coordination in all aspects of voting.
The Harris County Commissioners Court is making a sound transition. The change being proposed will not take effect until after the 2020 general election. An elections administrator could be hired and involved in the process this year as they prepare to transition the duties and functions into one office. We have high expectations for the incoming elections administrator. They will be held to a high standard of performance and accountable to voters through the Commissioners Court and bipartisan Election Commission, which will have the power to remove and replace them.
The tax assessor-collector office was once used as a tool in the oppression of Americans. As long as that office is engaged in our election process, the vestiges of the Jim Crow era will remain. Our need for progress on social justice and election reform require us to rework and remake our institutions to best serve all of us. Let us look forward toward a more equitable and efficient voting system with the creation of the Office of Elections Administration and not retain a legacy that excluded and suppressed our right to participate fully and fairly in elections.