Texas Implements Controversial Law, Disbands Houston's Election Office

The election administrator's office in Harris County, Texas, has been dismantled to comply with a new state law that shifts responsibility for elections and voter registration to the county clerk and tax assessor-collector. Critics argue that the law, along with another recently enacted law, is a power grab by the GOP-led legislature to disrupt elections in the traditionally red state's increasingly blue Harris County. The move comes ahead of the Houston mayoral race and other local elections, and is part of a broader effort by Republicans to exert more control over election administration. The new law applies only to counties with populations over 3.5 million, affecting only Harris County.