Texas Republicans are not taking the Democratic surge in the Lone Star State lightly.
Today is election day in Texas and record turnout has apparently sent chills through Republicans in the state, which demographically looks more like a Blue State than you’d expect from election results. Today, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing local school districts of “electioneering,†by encouraging students to vote and bussing them to polls.
Paxton, who survived an indictment for securities fraud when a judge dismissed the case, has said that students cannot be bussed to the polls on election day and issued cease-and-desist letters to the school districts suggesting the districts “used taxpayer resources to distribute messages to their staff and the public advocating for or against certain political candidates and measures.â€
He’s also tried to ferret out opponents in those schools by filing records requests for “all emails between superintendents and principals pertaining to voting,†The Dallas Morning News reports.
What makes the situation especially odd is that Texas has a unique law on its books which requires principals to register their students to vote. The law, which dates to the Civil Rights movement, is no longer enforced.
“I don’t know how it’s become such a crazy thing unless people have an agenda for not wanting people to vote,†one school board member told the Morning News.