Good on for speaking up in the Denton County Commissioners Court, Nick

Go right ahead. Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. My name is Nick Pappas. I'm a Louisville resident. I'm a retired United States Marine, and I'm the Democratic nominee for Denton County judge this election in November. Before I get to my talking points, I want to thank the court for respecting the rights of everyone who

comes to this podium to speak and to speak freely. And I wanted to personally thank Commissioner Mitchell for representing my district. I'm going to read a one sentence from Texas Law, Election Code Section 43.007, subsection A. It says the Secretary of State shall implement a program allowing the Commissioner's Court to eliminate precinct polling places and establish countywide polling places for, and then it lists five

things. Number one on that list, quote, any election required to be conducted by the county, end quote. No conditions, no party approval. The party approval language appears exactly once in the whole section in paragraph four. And paragraph four is specifically for primary elections. Judge Eads, you said publicly as recently as October 2025

that it's up to the two political parties to come to an agreement before this court considers action. That is not what the statute says. The Texas Secretary of State's own office told the news in October 2024 that party approval applies, quote, only during the primaries, end quote. So either this court knows that it has been spreading misinformation, or this court does not understand the statute.

I do not like either one of these answers. The public asking for countywide voting on election day aren't confused because they are slow. They're confused because they listened to the Commissioner's Court. They trusted their county government to tell them the truth about their own election law, and trust is the only thing this building runs on. Second thing, your elections administrator told the Denton Record Chronicle

on September 14th, 2022, quote, we just haven't gotten around to completing the report and application yet, end quote. Denton County is not on the Secretary of State's approved list as of today. Denton County has never appeared in a single legislative report under election code four three point zero zero seven, subsection J, going back to twenty thirteen. One hundred counties are on that list, and Denton County

is not one of them. Your own website still says Denton County will have to make an application to the state. to We'll have, as in future tense. And as of last October, your administrator said it had not been started. Now I may be confused, and if I am, please put it on the agenda for next week and set

the record straight with the provision of the Texas Election Code that requires political party consent for a November general election. Otherwise, please set the public hearing under subsection B and file the application. If you won't, please say so out loud so these folks understand the Commissioner's Court is responsible for this decision. Because there's nothing a Texan hates worse than being told

sorry, there's nothing I can do. Early voting starts October nineteenth through the thirtieth. Thank you very much.