El Paso County and Harris County have joined a federal lawsuit challenging new election-related conditions on Homeland Security Grant Program funding.
The Texas counties along with the city of Columbus, Ohio, and the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, argue that the requirements exceed FEMA’s statutory authority and violate the Constitution’s Spending Clause, separation of powers principles, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Homeland Security Grant Program was established in 2003 to help state and local governments prepare for and respond to terrorism and other security threats, and at least three percent of each grant has been designated for election security since 2023.
In June, FEMA announced it would withhold 20 percent of grant funds from jurisdictions that do not comply with five new election-related requirements. The plaintiffs say complying would cost millions of dollars and put roughly $200 million in federal security funding at risk nationwide.
El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez said local election offices already operate under some of the toughest oversight in the country. “Local election offices already face some of the toughest oversight and requirements designed to keep their operations safe and secure,” Sanchez said. “Imposing additional requirements is both costly and burdensome, while our law enforcement agencies rely on this funding to purchase critical equipment that helps protect and save lives.”
The lawsuit states that FEMA has suggested it could cancel an entire state’s Homeland Security Grant Program award if the state does not comply, even though most of that money is earmarked for counties and cities rather than the state itself.
“FEMA has even suggested that unless a state complies with these conditions, FEMA may cancel the entire HSGP award for the state, the vast majority of which is earmarked for counties and municipalities like plaintiffs here,” the lawsuit states. “FEMA’s changes will fundamentally alter how states and local jurisdictions administer elections.”
For Harris County, the funding at stake includes more than $23.3 million for the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land region in fiscal year 2026 through the Urban Area Security Initiative. Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin said a 20 percent holdback would total close to $4.7 million and that the money supports specialized law enforcement training and detection equipment for chemical, nuclear, biological, and explosive materials.
The new requirements would push Harris County to move away from its Hart Verity system, which lets voters make selections on an electronic ballot marking device before the printed record is scanned, toward equipment relying solely on hand-marked paper ballots. The lawsuit notes that change could conflict with a state law requiring counties to finish counting regular ballots within 24 hours after polls close. Kamin has said the shift would require additional staffing, equipment, and training, and that an expanded manual audit required under the new rules could take three to four months to complete.
This is not the first time a Homeland Security Grant Program condition has run into legal trouble. In December 2025, a federal court blocked a separate set of HSGP rules tied to immigration enforcement, and the administration later moved to dismiss its own appeal of that ruling.
Reporting from the San Antonio Current indicates the citizenship verification piece of the new rules is already reaching individual voters. At least three Texas counties were contacted this week for detailed records on specific voters, and a Department of Homeland Security representative reportedly told one election official that all 254 Texas counties would eventually be contacted.
A FEMA spokesperson defended the new requirements, saying concerns over election security “made it clear that action is required.” The spokesperson added, “We fully expected opposition to common-sense measures designed to protect election security and safeguard the integrity of American democracy.”
Harris County is asking a federal court in Washington, D.C. to block the requirements while the broader lawsuit proceeds, with Kamin citing the approaching November election as a reason for urgency.
