So I'd like you to keep in mind that at no point during the subsequent three special sessions where the Texas GOP was screeching endlessly about non-existent voter fraud and "election integrity" while passing Jim Crow era voter suppression bills and one of the worst gerrymanders in the country, did our state even have a top official responsible for overseeing our elections in office.
Fast forward again to today, and we find out that Gov. Abbott has appointed John Scott to be our state's newest Sec. of State. Mr. Scott has certainly made a name for himself. In 2014, he was the deputy state attorney general in charge of defending a 2011 voter ID bill that even the ultra right-wing Fifth Circuit would later rule violated the Voting Rights Act (the case is Veasey v. Abbott if you're interested). And just last year, he agreed to sign on as counsel to one of Trump's lawsuits attempting to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election. And so naturally, this is the man who Greg Abbott picks to oversee our state's elections.
Hey remember when I said that a Sec. of State who is appointed when the Legislature is not in session just gets to serve unvoted on by the State Senate until the end of the next legislative session? Well the Legislature finally wrapped up their final special session on October 12th, and here we are just 9 days later and Gov. Abbott appoints Mr.Scott to be our next Sec. of State. Sure is "funny" how that timeline plays out huh? Truth be told, there's every chance that the State Senate would have rubber stamped Mr. Scott's appointment, but since Greg Abbott waited until after the Legislature had adjourned, Mr. Scott doesn't even have to face that potentially perfunctory level of scrutiny.
So now we have a Sec. of State who is a proponent of the Big Lie that voter fraud is rampant and last year's Presidential election was stolen overseeing our state's elections until at least May 2023. And he gets to oversee next year's Congressional and statewide elections, where Greg Abbott will be appearing on the ballot of course, without even having to go through a single nomination hearing or vote from the State Senate.
That's democracy in Texas under the iron thumb of the Texas GOP for you.