Greg Abbott on Government Reform

Mid-decade Congressional redistricting is "fairer"

Require state agencies to slash rules, fees, and regulations

Congratulated Biden 2020 victory, but supported state audit

Abbott congratulated Biden on his inauguration in January 2021. In the fall of 2021, after pressure from Trump, he supported a state audit of the 2020 election in four counties in Texas, a state Trump won.

Increased penalty for illegal voting & 2020 election audit

Abbott has pushed an audit of the general election of 2020 in four Texas counties--Harris, Collin, Dallas and Tarrant--after former President Donald Trump urged him to add audit legislation to the special session agenda. Local officials said they were in the dark about the process, which Abbott later claimed had already begun as the audit's guidelines covered some of the standard post-election procedures local officials are already required to undertake.

Election integrity essential to our democracy

No "heavy hand of regulation" attracts business to Texas

In addition to the pandemic demonstrating the feasibility of more widespread remote work, Abbott said there are other characteristics attracting companies to Texas. "Cost of business means a lot. No income tax means a lot, but also the freedom to operate without the heavy hand of regulation means a lot," he said.

Voter fraud is real; voter ID is nondiscriminatory

Voter ID laws do not prevent legal votes. Instead, they ensure legal votes are not discounted by illegal ones. Every state that has implemented Voter ID laws has seen an increase in minority voter participation and there's no reason not to expect the same in Texas.

The Department of Justice was attempting to stop implementation of voter ID laws including the Texas law. Abbott filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court, arguing that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act undermines sovereignty. On June 25, 2013, the US Supreme Court [agreed], and Abbott announced that Texas would implement its duly passed Voter ID law.