Texas Republican attorney general sues over voter registration efforts in Democrat strongholds

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued two of the state’s largest counties to block efforts to register voters ahead of the November general election. The lawsuits that have drawn sharp criticism and claims of voter suppression from state Democrats. Counties encompassing San Antonio and the state capital Austin moved to hire a third-party vendor to identify non-registered voters and get them signed up. Paxton has argued the contracts went beyond the local government’s legal authority. He says Texas law does not explicitly allow counties to mail out unsolicited registration forms.