Texas controls our elections, not the DOJ

Alaskans had already begun casting early ballots in the U.S. Senate race when the U.S. Department of Justice went to federal court in Alaska on October 22 and asked a judge to block the state from certifying its November 3 election under certain circumstances.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to bar Alaska from certifying the Senate result if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola and if, under the state’s ranked-choice system, a different candidate with a nearly identical name — Daniel J. Sullivan — may have drawn votes that affected the outcome. The Justice Department cites the National Voter Registration Act as the statutory basis for the challenge.

President Donald Trump put his own stamp on the move: “I’m the one that said do it.” Alaska pushed back within days. Alaska’s Department of Law filed a motion urging a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit immediately, arguing it has no legal basis and improperly seeks to interfere with the state’s election-certification process.

Alaska runs its own elections through the Lieutenant Governor’s Division of Elections, overseen by Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. In a ballot-access dispute involving Daniel J. Sullivan, Dahlstrom determined that the evidence did not support his eligibility for the U.S. Senate ballot.

The line the Constitution draws

The Constitution draws the line directly. The Elections Clause of Article I, Section 4 assigns the times, places, and manner of congressional elections to each state’s legislature, while Congress may alter those regulations. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 does the same for presidential electors — each state appoints its electors as its legislature directs — with no role assigned to the executive branch. Under this division of labor, Congress sets the time of federal elections by law, the states prescribe the places and manner of voting and run the casting, counting, and certification of ballots, and the federal executive branch has no assigned role in conducting, stopping, or overturning an election.

That line is not abstract for a Texas voter.

Who runs your ballot in Texas

In Texas, the people who run your ballot are Texans, starting with the state’s chief election officer, the Secretary of State. Robert S. Howden, the 116th Texas Secretary of State, was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott, with the appointment effective July 18, 2026. The Secretary’s Elections Division assists and advises county election officials, provides training and election calendars, interprets election law, administers the Texas Election Code, and maintains the statewide voter-registration system along with public tools such as VoteTexas.gov.

The actual work of running an election happens at the county level. A county election official — the county clerk by default, or a county elections administrator where the county has appointed one — serves as the early-voting clerk and oversees countywide election administration. At the polling place itself, the team is deliberately bipartisan: the county parties whose governor candidates drew the top two votes supply the presiding election judge and alternate judge, and clerks are drawn from the different parties’ lists wherever possible.

From registration to the count

Robert S. Howden’s office maintains the statewide voter-registration system, but your registration itself is handled by the county voter registrar — by default the tax assessor-collector, or the elections administrator or county clerk in some counties. That registrar receives your application, maintains the county voter list, and issues your voter certificate.

For the November 3, 2026 general election, registration closed October 5, and early voting runs through October 30. After Election Day, each county conducts a canvass — the official local sign-off on its results; for this general election the county canvass deadline is November 17, 2026, and statewide results for statewide offices are then canvassed at the state level.

If you want to check your own registration, start at VoteTexas.gov or call 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). The “Am I Registered?” tool will ask for your Voter Unique Identifier — the VUID printed on your voter certificate. Because Texas voter registration is county-based, questions about your record should go to the voter registrar in your county of residence.

Watch or serve

Counting is something a Texas voter can watch. Poll watchers — appointed by a candidate, party, or measure proponent — may observe the central counting station and the early-voting ballot board while those officials process and count ballots. A Texan can also serve as an election judge or clerk by applying through the local county election official, and qualifying students at least 16 years old can serve as student election clerks; the required training is open to the public and free.

At every step, the people doing the work are Texans — and the counting is public.