Elections

The February lawsuit ensnarled some of the county's top Democrats, including state Sen. Royce West, state Rep. Eric Johnson and numerous judicial candidates."This frivolous lawsuit was a thinly veiled attempt by the Dallas County Republican Party to The lawsuit tugged at the fabric of the local Democratic Party already under stress from numerous contentious primary contests.  While blasting Republicans for election-year tricks that threatened to disenfranchise voters, some Democrats blamed Donovan for not properly doing her job.But most Democrats stood by their leader, excepting her point that criticizing her for not signing the petitions, which lawyers for Democrats said she didn't have to do, would add fuel to the  "Republican scheme."Perhaps primary voters agreed. On March 6 Donovan easily beat Dallas lawyer Chris Hamilton to win re-election as Dallas County Democratic Party chairwoman.Democrats took the lawsuit seriously. Six lawyers argued for … [Read more...] about Judge dismisses GOP lawsuit that sought to remove dozens of Democrats from November election

This is a developing story that will be updated. AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott declared a special election must be held to fill Blake Farenthold’s U.S. House seat, and now he wants the ex-representative to pay for it.The Corpus Christi Republican resigned April 6, a few months after dropping re-election plans amid revelations that he used $84,000 in taxpayer money to pay a woman who accused him of sexual harassment in 2014.Farenthold promised to repay the money but has not done so. In a letter Wednesday, Abbott said Farenthold should use the $84,000 to pay for the cost of the election."While you have publicly offered to reimburse the $84,000 in taxpayer funds you wrongly used to settle a sexual harassment claim, there is no legal recourse requiring you to give that money back to Congress,” Abbott wrote. “I am urging you to give those funds back to the counties in your district to cover the costs of the June 30, 2018, special election. This seat must be filled, … [Read more...] about Gov. Greg Abbott wants Farenthold to reimburse taxpayers, fund special election to replace him in Congress

This is a developing story. AUSTIN — Former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold heard Gov. Greg Abbott's request to help cover the cost of the special election to fill his seat. But he's not going to pay.Farenthold wrote a "sharply worded" four-page letter to Abbott that said there was no need for him to call the special election, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday."Since I didn't call it and I don't think it's necessary, I shouldn't be asked to pay for it," the letter with Farenthold's signature states.The Corpus Christi Republican resigned April 6, a few months after dropping re-election plans amid revelations that he used $84,000 in taxpayer money to pay a woman who accused him of sexual harassment in 2014. He promised to repay the money to the federal government but has not done so. Abbott called for a special election to fill Farenthold's seat and asked him in April to use the $84,000 to reimburse the counties holding the election in … [Read more...] about Blake Farenthold tells Gov. Greg Abbott he will not pay for special election to replace him

0 Comments West Tyrone by-election: Counting underway in Omagh BelfastTelegraph.co.uk A 59-year-old man has been arrested following reports of a gunman threatening voters at a polling station at Greencastle. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/west-tyrone-by-election-2018/west-tyrone-byelection-counting-underway-in-omagh-36869738.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article36870936.ece/ccf02/AUTOCROP/h342/police_count_centre.jpg Email A 59-year-old man has been arrested following reports of a gunman threatening voters at a polling station at Greencastle. Police confirmed the man was charged with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or alarm. The polls opened at 7am this morning as voters began to cast their votes in West Tyrone. Sinn Fein's Órfhlaith Begley, SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan, DUP MLA Thomas Buchanan, the Alliance Party's Stephen Donnelly and the UUP's Chris Smyth are battling it out to become the new MP for West Tyrone. The … [Read more...] about West Tyrone by-election: Counting underway in Omagh

With the midterm congressional primaries about to hit full swing, the Department of Homeland Security is playing catch-up in helping to ensure that state election systems are secure against cybertampering by the Russians or others bent on mischief.The department said it has completed on-site risk assessments of election systems in nine of 17 states that have formally requested them so far; the results are not public. Nebraska and Iowa are among the nine. The department has pledged to complete the reviews by November for every state that asks.The security reviews are designed to identify any weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers; such examinations are routinely conducted in the private sector. They are just one tool, although an important one, in ensuring a computer network has a robust defense. Homeland Security officials attribute the backlog to increased demand for such reviews since the 2016 presidential election and say they are devoting more money and shifting resources to … [Read more...] about Nebraska and Iowa — but not many others — had security checkups of election systems