In a blue county in a red state — that could go blue for the first time since the early 90’s — Abbie Kamin has been preparing for months to make sure every vote counts.
“From day one, the number one priority was ensuring that every eligible voter in Harris County that their rights are protected and that they have the right to vote,” Kamin told MS NOW.
As the Harris County Attorney in Texas, Kamin is overseeing the legal response to any potential election interference for the state’s most populous county where record-breaking early voting is already underway. She and her team of nearly two dozen lawyers, including some she has recently recruited from the Department of Justice, are actively preparing to quickly respond to legal issues surrounding the election as soon as they may arise.
“We have everything that you can have drafted,” Kamin said. “We have attorneys assigned for every different scenario, who’s handling what — but also to ensure rapid response.”
While she declined to indicate the specific scenarios her team is watching, she signaled that the past might be a precedent.
“We’re watching other states,” Kamin said. “We have our own experience from past elections that we are using to prepare.”
Kamin pointed to the federal government’s attempts to interfere with ballots, including the search and seizure of ballots from the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, earlier this year, as well as the Justice Department’s recent lawsuit to segregate the ballots of 20,000 alleged non-citizens in California who are registered to vote.
She also noted the attempts and refusals to certify the 2020 election results, as well as President Trump’s public comments about his intentions around the elections, including a call to send federal law enforcement agents to the polls.
In Travis County, another heavily Democratic county in Texas, County Attorney Delia Garza told MS NOW her office has hired election law experts as outside counsel to assist her team and has already obtained proper authorization to file litigation to protect the vote should the need arise
“In this important election, we have consulted with our counterparts in local jurisdictions and taken extra precautions to plan and anticipate scenarios that may impact a voter’s protected right to cast their ballot,” Garza said.
A county attorney in a key battleground state — who wished to remain anonymous in order to speak about sensitive litigation planning — told MS NOW that their office is working around the clock to get ready for Tuesday — and beyond.
“Every case will be fact-specific, but we do have pleadings drafted, everything ready,” that county attorney said. “We have a team of attorneys with the intent to protect the integrity of the elections and prevent interference, as we have seen these attempts play out in other states.”
These types of preparations are underway at the statewide level, too.
A spokesperson for one state attorney general told MS NOW they have a “brief bank” with motions ready: for the return of ballots or equipment seized, to stop ICE if they show up at polling sites, and to prevent DOJ’s election monitors from deviating from the law should they talk to voters, carry weapons into a polling location, or interfere in any way with the casting or tabulation of votes.
Secretaries of state are having similar conversations. A source familiar with the planning of several Democratic secretaries of state, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive plans, told MS NOW those offices also have “draft filings ready to go” and that the plans “include being ready and willing to sue.”
Their biggest priority is ensuring voters get to vote — and that those votes are counted. They are preparing to respond to challenges quickly so there is minimal disruption to the voting process.
“Time is absolutely of the essence,” the person said. “Secretaries of state and attorneys general have done everything in their power in preparation for this moment to ensure that if something happens, they can react as quickly as possible.”
Several law firms and legal organizations are also preparing to intervene if necessary.
Lis Frost, a lawyer with Elias Law Group who specializes in election litigation, knows firsthand about the legal challenges. She served as former President Joe Biden’s counsel during the post-election litigation in 2020 and filed more than 60 lawsuits against Trump and his allies.
Frost declined to speak about specific legal work she’s involved with currently, but told MS NOW her team has “an incredible bank of knowledge” and “battle plans” for specific scenarios as they emerge.
She said her team is prepared to respond within a matter of hours to circumstances even her team of veteran litigators has never seen before, likening her job to that of a chef.
“You have to be ready to put together the dinner for the diner that comes in the door,” she said. “If you don’t, if you are just like, ‘no, I’m going to serve the thing I serve’ … you’re going to miss the mark.”
“One of the things that’s actually crucial in this moment to be able to meet this historical moment is to have a real deep understanding of all the things that could go on the table, but be nimble and able to arrange them properly and to put together the right bespoke response for the moment as it arises,” Frost said, “and to be able to do that, frankly, on a breakneck schedule and get it right.”
Another lawyer at a national legal organization, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive litigation matters, told MS NOW they have been preparing for the possibility of federal interference in the election that would require emergency litigation for months.
The person said they have a variety of legal pleadings and briefs drafted and ready to address issues such as the presence of armed ICE or FBI agents at the polls — or even to respond to attempts to seize ballots, voting machines or other election equipment, and for the possibility that the federal government could use “spurious claims of election fraud” to justify these seizures.
National political party organizations are preparing to enter these legal battles, and some already have. A group of Democratic party organizations and leaders filed a lawsuit last week, alleging the Trump administration has been systematically seeking to erode confidence in the elections by asserting the right to dictate how states can administer their elections and bolstering their interference efforts through persistent threats and intimidation toward state and local election officials.
They have asked a federal judge to block the Trump administration from directing states to remove registered voters from their rolls, withhold ballots, or segregate or refuse to count ballots. They are also asking the judge to block the Trump administration from threatening state and local election officials The judge has not yet ruled on their claims.
The Democratic National Committee, which was not a party to that lawsuit, is also preparing to respond to any issues that arise. In some situations, they have already filed the suits, including a challenge to possible federal agent deployments, so they can quickly file emergency motions to situations as they arise.
Dan Freeman, Litigation Director for the DNC, told MS NOW that they are also drafting template lawsuits for a variety of situations and expects to have them finalized by the end of this week.
“It is standard practice to develop template pleadings — ‘Mad Libs’ pleadings, if you will — and we will be prepared for the full range of contingencies that could arise next week,” Freeman said.
Preparation for potential election litigation is not a partisan issue. The Republican National Committee has established a robust “election integrity” program to respond to potential issues on and around Election Day.
While the RNC would not address whether they have litigation already drafted, Ally Triolo, the RNC’s Election Integrity Communications Director, told MS NOW their goals are consistent: “ensuring the rules enacted by each state are followed uniformly.”
Triolo says any legal response would depend on the facts and applicable state law, but potential issue areas could involve observer access, polling hours, electioneering, ballot counting, and compliance with requirements governing voter identification and mail ballots.”
“The RNC has attorneys, election-integrity staff, and trained volunteers monitoring developments, and preparing to respond to specific issues as they arise,” Triolo said. “Any action would be based on the facts, the applicable state law, and the available legal remedies.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment on these preparations for potential election-related litigation.
Back in Harris County, Kamin is concerned the concept of following the law could become subjective.
Aaron Reitz, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, which includes Harris County, posted a video earlier this month, warning election officials, “If you violate the law, I will hunt you down and prosecute you.”
That announcement prompted Kamin, who insists her team is “following the law to a T,” to hire another type of lawyer to support her election work: one who is an expert in criminal law.
Still, she insists she won’t be deterred in her work.
“Our democracy is sacred, and we are going to continue to follow the laws of our state and our country rigorously,” Kamin said. “And we are going to defend those laws.”
Lisa Rubin contributed to this report.
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