Harris County Elections
In 2021,Bettencourt sponsored Senate Bill 1111 which prohibited the use of private P.O. Boxes for voter registration. After the bill passed,Bettencourt alleged that this was a known problem in Harris County. [14]
Democrats won most of the Harris County elections during the 2022 midterms. Following these Democratic wins,Republicans complained of issues at polling sites in Republican areas including running out of paper. [15] In response Bettencourt authored a dozen bills during the 2023 session,seeking to change how Harris County managed elections. The bills included Senate Bill 1750 which returned the election duties to the Harris County Clerk and the Tax Assessor-Collector,a role Bettencourt once held. [16] The bill only applied to counties with over 3.5 million residents,only Harris County meets this standard [17] . Senate Bill 1933 allows the Texas Secretary of State to have oversight over key parts of the election functions typically managed by the county. If an election related complaint is filed with the Secretary of State,they then will investigate and if the office finds "good cause" they can impose administrative oversight by the Secretary of State. [18]
In 2025,Bettencourt filed a complaint with the Texas Secretary of State alleging that Harris County had several registered voters whose listed addresses were PO Boxes in violation of state law. Annette Ramirez,Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector,responded to Bettencourt's complaint stating that the Harris County Tax Office has not violated any election laws. [19] Following Bettencourt's complaint,the Texas Secretary of State,Jane Nelson,indicated that this could result in state oversight by her office in Harris County elections. Bettencourt's complaint did not allege that those registered to vote via a PO Box address actually voted in the last election. [20]
