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<\/p>\nHARRIS COUNTY, Texas \u2013 The Harris County Clerk\u2019s Office has agreed to remove election advertisements that used demographic-based targeting settings on social media as part of a settlement reached with the state of Texas. The settlement also bars the office from reactivating those ad settings for the remainder of the election period.<\/p>\n
The Office of Attorney General filed a lawsuit Thursday against Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and her Director of Communications, accusing the office of using Meta\u2019s advertising tools to target its \u201cGet Out the Vote\u201d ads toward certain racial and ethnic groups while excluding others. The Harris County Clerk\u2019s Office spent an estimated $43,429 over 30 days on ads that included ad-targeting tags tied to African-American literature, Latin music, Hispanic kitchen and East Asia. <\/p>\n
Attorney General Ken Paxton is on the November ballot as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and his office said he was recusing himself from the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
On Thursday night, clerk Hudspeth announced the audience tags had been removed \u201cto avoid unnecessary distractions,\u201d while maintaining the office\u2019s voter outreach efforts were lawful. The Harris County Attorney\u2019s Office called the lawsuit a \u201cpathetic political distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n
A University of Houston Law Center professor told KPRC 2 that the state would have needed to prove intent \u2014 not just show who saw the ads \u2014 to prevail in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reflects the fact that the government should not be involved in racial profiling,\u201d said law professor Seth Chandler.<\/p>\n
The settlement comes as Harris County has surpassed 1 million early votes cast ahead of the November 3 election. That\u2019s a record for early turnout in a non-presidential election. Turnout has also nearly doubled in some predominantly Black communities compared to 2022.<\/p>\n
Start Here, Houston<\/p>\n
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