SAN ANTONIO – A hearing scheduled for Monday in San Antonio civil district court will likely determine the fate of a targeted voter registration program approved by county commissioners less than two weeks ago.
In a 3-1 vote on Sept. 3, commissioners agreed to award a $393,000 contract to Civic Government Solutions (CGS), a company that sends potential voters in an area prefilled voter registration forms.
On its website, CGS boasts that around 20% of unique recipients of these mailers registered to vote in the 2020 general election. Notably, 85% of those who registered actually turned out and voted in the election, according to the website.
However, opponents of the contract, who criticized the commissioners’ vote, claim that CGS has connections to progressive entities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who followed through on a threat to sue Bexar County if it approved the contract, claimed that CGS CEO Jeremy Smith has previously expressed interest in getting people to vote for progressive political candidates.
“The Election Code does not empower the voter registrar or any other county official to arrange for the mass mailing of voter registration forms unsolicited,” the Sept. 3 suit states.
Paxton has asked a judge for emergency injunctive relief to prevent the mailing program from moving forward.
County officials, including Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, have said CGS’s efforts under the contract are non-partisan.
“No one in commissioners court is encouraging anybody to vote one way or another. The citizens of Bexar County will not be intimidated. We believe in the healthy exercise of democracy,” Gonzales said Sept. 6 outside of Bexar County Presiding Court.
Gonzales and his staff had braced that day for Paxton himself to appear in relation to the suit.
The AG’s office did not appear and instead filed a motion for a hearing, which was subsequently scheduled for Sept. 16.
Paxton’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment Sunday night.
Gonzales, in a written statement released Friday, said Paxton is attempting “to sow distrust in our democratic process.”
The deadline to register to vote in Texas in November’s general election is Oct. 7, so a ruling on the temporary restraining order will need to be made in the next few weeks, if not sooner.