Republicans being Republicans in Republican-ruled Texas

 

The Washington Post had an article about how the Republican-controlled Texas legislature passed a law that allows the Republican-controlled state government to toss out election results they don't like -- applicable to domiciles, i.e., Houston, where there is a Democratic majority that might have the temerity to vote for a Democrat.

Can't have that in a Republican-controlled state, can we?

Texas Republicans pass voting bills targeting large Democratic county 

The new law would single out Houston, with its sizable Black population, for a different election process

How's that going to work, anyway?

"The measure gives the secretary of state under certain conditions the power to run elections in Harris County, home to Houston and 4.8 million residents. It follows a bill approved days earlier that shifts the oversight of elections from its appointed elections administrator to the county clerk and county assessor."

What are those certain conditions, you are bound to be asking your shocked self?  (I added the italics down below.)

"The quick transition could easily lead to problems, opponents of the measure say. If problems do occur, Secretary of State Jane Nelson could use the provisions of the other newly passed bill to oversee elections in Harris County. That would mean Nelson, a former state senator appointed as secretary of state by Abbott, would be in charge of the 2024 presidential election for the county."

"And if Nelson did not believe that the new officials in charge of elections — Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and County Assessor Ann Harris Bennett — had rectified problems, she could initiate legal proceedings to remove them from office under the legislation. Local officials said it would be unjust to allow the secretary of state the power to take action against two Black women but not those who hold equivalent positions in the state’s 253 other counties.

Under the bill, Nelson could oversee elections in Harris County if she found “good cause to believe that a recurring pattern of problems with election administration or voter registration exists in the county.” She would get to sign off on all of the county’s election procedures and could install members of her staff in Harris County offices."

Doesn't that sound just like Texas?  Sometimes I wonder why we actually wanted the state in the first place. We could have just let Mexico have it, or let it be an independent country.  Actually, the latter would have been a good idea, because then all the other disgruntled MAGA conservatives in the rest of the country could move there AND LEAVE THE REST OF US ALONE. Then they could even elect Trump their President and we could just leave him exiled there.