Currently, under Texas law, constitutional amendments cannot take effect if the election results face legal challenges.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ new $3 billion dementia research fund is now temporarily blocked and on hold after three voters filed a lawsuit, claiming the voting machines used in the election last month were faulty.
The lawsuit was filed in Travis County earlier this month by Shannon Huggins, Lars Kuslich and Jose Silvester against the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. Voters approved Proposition 14 with more than 68.5% of the vote.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Texas), who championed the funding during the legislative session and touted it as one of his top priorities, blasted the lawsuit. In a statement last week, Patrick said the delay will prevent critical research on dementia, Alzheimer’s and related diseases.
“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 said.
The three voters who filed the lawsuit are representing themselves and do not have an attorney. They live in Burleson, Comal and Liberty counties. In their lawsuit, they argue that some of the voting machines used in the recent constitutional amendment election were not properly certified by federal law, so they are asking the court to throw out the election results and order a new election.
Natalia Contreras, who covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat, said that is not correct and the Secretary of State’s Office has an extensive, monthslong, and in some cases yearlong, process to certify voting equipment before counties can use it.
“Even before you can start using voting equipment in Texas, and even before it goes through certification in Texas, it goes through federal certification. The Secretary of State’s Office is not going to consider using voting equipment that hasn’t first been certified by the federal government,” Contreras said. “The equipment that we’ve used that we’ve been using here in Texas has been certified. Officials with the Secretary of State’s Office have, on the record, clarified this to lawmakers.”
The lawsuit does not explain why the voters are only challenging Prop 14 and not any of the other 16 constitutional amendments that voters considered and approved during the November election.
“This is a statewide proposition,” Contreras said. “How do you throw out just that set of results called for a redo? Across the state, this type of voting equipment that’s being challenged was used, and so it’s interesting that it’s OK for the other propositions to be used for this, but not for that specific election in that race.”
Proposition 14 creates the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, dedicating $3 billion over the next decade to address dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The $3 billion would come from state general revenue.
Supporters of Prop 14 said not only will DPRIT help people, but it will also give Texas a chance to become a leader in dementia research by bringing top talent to the state. Opponents have expressed concern about Texas stretching itself too thin and taking on too many initiatives. The lawsuit mentions the large amount of taxpayer money involved in the project.
“As Texas taxpayers, Contestants suffer a distinct injury from the $3 billion diversion of general revenue triggered by Proposition 14’s passage from illegal votes,” the lawsuit states.
Currently, under Texas law, constitutional amendments cannot take effect if the election results face legal challenges, which means, for now, the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute is on ice.
In September, during the second called special session, state lawmakers passed, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed, House Bill 16, which would allow constitutional amendments to take effect even if the election is challenged in court. However, it does not become law until Dec. 4 – 90 days after the end of the second special session. Because it is not in effect, the funding mechanism is blocked.
In the past few years, there have been a growing number of lawsuits filed as an effort to block constitutional amendments from taking effect, even after voters approve them – something that has been frustrating for state lawmakers. Following the November 2023 election, right-wing activists filed multiple lawsuits to block constitutional amendments dealing with property tax cuts for Texans and raises for retired teachers. Those lawsuits also centered on claims about the voting equipment, alleging it was not certified and that the machines were connected to the internet, which experts have said is not true.
Two of the plaintiffs in this new lawsuit, Huggins and Kuslich, have made similar claims about voting machines in legal challenges they filed after previous elections.
“I think this is a very good example of the real-life implications that misinformation about elections can have on everyday Texans who may not even be paying attention to politics or, you know, to the voting process, or what anyone is saying about how we vote or whether we should trust the equipment that we’re using to cast ballots or not,” Contreras said. “Misinformation is still being spread and has been spread for years about voting equipment, and here we have a real-life example of how it ultimately can affect everyday Texans.”
Patrick described the litigation filed by the voters as “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. “Texas has a unique opportunity to deliver world-class, cutting-edge dementia care for our citizens.”
Patrick called on the court to take “expedient action to remedy this legal matter” and allow DPRIT to become Texas law.
The Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas will be modeled after the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which was founded in 2009. It would operate similarly and administer grants to researchers and groups. The new initiative aims to accelerate early detection, improve care pathways and stimulate research into treatment and possible cures for dementia-related illnesses.
At the age of 55, Americans have a 42% chance of developing dementia, and Texas already has the third-largest number of dementia patients in the country. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates 460,000 Texans have been diagnosed, but the disease’s reach is far broader.
The elderly population in the Lone Star State is expected to more than double from 3.9 million in 2020 to 8.3 million by 2050.