Posts by Direct Action Texas

Surprise, the story and result of Midland’s recent bond election have once again changed according to Midland County Election Administrator Deborah Land.

Yesterday, Land announced the recount of November’s election was wrong, insisting the election night totals were accurate.

Even on election night, there were questions about the count since a machine tasked with counting mail-in ballots was on the fritz and had to be replaced.

In any case, assuming that the election night result was correct, following the receipt of additional ballots and provisionally cast ballots the bond was shown to have failed.

This latest development is sure to drive up tensions in an already fraught situation.

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This week, Direct Action Texas agreed to partner with Better Bond for Midland to investigate a recent bond election in Midland, Texas.

This election is an important one to examine, as it illuminates important correctable flaws and exposes tactical approaches that can be countered to slow runaway bureaucratic creep.

Before getting to the specifics of the election, note, this is no longer about the bond itself but about a process that has undermined trust in our form of governance.

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This week, two more members of the Texas House called on Poncho Nevarez (D) to resign from office. The calls come after Nevarez was found to have dropped an envelope full of cocaine at the Austin airport in early September.

Reps. Mike Lang (R-Granbury) and Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) added their names to the list of lawmakers who have already called for Nevarez’s resignation.

While the Democrat from Eagle Pass has said he will not seek reelection in 2020, Nevarez remains chairman of the powerful Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. He’s also racking up time on the job which might be padding his pension.

In light of the Nevarez charing, pending legal case, and questions about why he has yet to resign, we thought it would be interesting to take a survey of recent criminal prosecutions of elected officials in Texas.

Another motivating factor, coverage of the Nevarez debacle in the Texas Monthly, took an opportunity to lash out at lawmakers (exclusively conservatives) who have not been charged or convicted of crimes while ignored the list below, likely because Democrats dominate it.

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It seems, based on legal filings reviewed by Direct Action Texas, that Cook Children’s Hospital really wants to wash its hands of infant Tinslee Lewis.

Cook Children’s is suing to have Judge Alex Kim recused from legal proceedings after the jurist issued a temporary restraining order preventing the hospital from pulling the plug on Lewis on November 10. Judge Kim later scheduled a hearing within the statutorily required timeframe.

On October 30, Cook Children’s evoked the 10-Day Rule on Lewis, a Texas law that permits hospitals to end life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of a patient’s family. Lewis, a 10-month-old, was born prematurely and requires a ventilator to breathe.

In judge shopping legal filings, the hospital contends Kim should be recused because of the mechanics used to get the restraining order in place and on the grounds that Kim compromised his ability to oversee further proceedings.

Neither appears to be true based on representations from the hospital.

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Here’s a look at election integrity news from around Texas and the country.

Some of these stories have been shared via our social media accounts, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Harris County

This week Texans voted in the off-year constitutional amendment election, sprinkled with local, bond and special elections in various jurisdictions.

In Harris County, returns from the election were delayed. The delays were unanticipated by most, predicted by a few and leave much to be desired moving forward in the largest county in the state.

On election night, after the polls closed, Harris county election officials took what amount to memory cards to a central location to be loaded up onto a computer and counted. This is a different process than has been used in the past and different than what was recommended by secretary of state staff.

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