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The state’s new $3 billion dementia research fund has been blocked temporarily by a trio of voters who claim voting machines used in this month’s election are faulty.
The plaintiffs — Shannon Huggins, Lars Kuslich and Jose Silvester — filed the action Nov. 13 in Travis County against the Texas Secretary of State’s office. In it, they claim that some voting machines were not certified by federal law and that the election results should be scrapped and a new election be ordered.
The plaintiffs, who are representing themselves without an attorney, do not say why they are only protesting the results that overwhelmingly approved the funding of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT) and not the other 16 propositions Texans considered on the same ballot. Two of the three plaintiffs — Huggins and Kuslich — have filed previous challenges about voting machines in other elections.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick championed the fund during the legislative session and listed it as a priority for lawmakers. On Wednesday, he slammed the plaintiffs for singling out Proposition 14, which was the funding of the research effort.
“Surprisingly, none of the other propositions were challenged in court under this pretense,” Patrick said in a statement. “This attack on DPRIT is disgusting and is a disservice to the roughly 500,000 Texans who suffer from some form of dementia, and their families who suffer along with them.”
Patrick called the plaintiffs’ efforts lawsuit abuse. “This frivolous lawsuit has prevented the DPRIT constitutional amendment from taking effect, despite Proposition 14’s passage with nearly 70% of the vote!,” Patrick said.
He also urged the legal system to take expedient action to allow DPRIT to become law.
The Texas Tribune reached out to the plaintiffs for additional comment but they did not immediately respond.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.