The following is a statement from Brianna Brown, Co-Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP) in response to Governor Greg Abbott’s appointment of John Scott as Texas Secretary of State:
“Governor Abbott is endorsing Donald Trump’s lies and demagoguery with his new Secretary of State selection, John Scott. Scott recently worked with Trump to falsely challenge the results of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania. It’s absurd to put Scott in charge of election administration when it’s clear he does not believe in our democratic institutions or the security of our elections. Abbott’s selection further shows us that he acts in the best interest of Trump, not the Texans he was elected to serve.
“By choosing Scott, an attorney who represented the former president in radical efforts to overturn last year’s election, Abbott is signaling to all across the state that he supports the undermining of free and fair elections, as well as the sabotage of democracy itself.
“Abbott, who just months ago forced through discriminatory legislation suppressing voters of color, is now paving the way for even more voter disenfranchisement and deceitful audits, all in a pathetic attempt to satisfy a man who incited a white supremacist insurrection at our nation’s Capitol.
“Time is working against Texas voters. Absolutely all options must be exhausted by Democrats in Congress to ensure immediate passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Anything less is a dereliction of duty that leaves our state exposed to further attacks on our voting rights.”
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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.
This statement was sent out October 21, 2021.