1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:00,960 Go right ahead. 2 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:02,800 Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. 3 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:03,920 My name is Nick Pappas. 4 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:05,120 I'm a Louisville resident. 5 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,760 I'm a retired United States Marine, and I'm the Democratic 6 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,560 nominee for Denton County judge this election in November. 7 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,320 Before I get to my talking points, I want to 8 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,800 thank the court for respecting the rights of everyone who 9 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,520 comes to this podium to speak and to speak freely. 10 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,240 And I wanted to personally thank Commissioner Mitchell for representing 11 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:22,080 my district. 12 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,560 I'm going to read a one sentence from Texas Law, 13 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,080 Election Code Section 43.007, subsection A. 14 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,560 It says the Secretary of State shall implement a program 15 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,080 allowing the Commissioner's Court to eliminate precinct polling places and 16 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,360 establish countywide polling places for, and then it lists five 17 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:37,760 things. 18 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,960 Number one on that list, quote, any election required to 19 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:42,720 be conducted by the county, end quote. 20 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,640 No conditions, no party approval. 21 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,440 The party approval language appears exactly once in the whole 22 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,040 section in paragraph four. 23 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,320 And paragraph four is specifically for primary elections. 24 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,680 Judge Eads, you said publicly as recently as October 2025 25 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:57,840 that it's up to the two political parties to come 26 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,160 to an agreement before this court considers action. 27 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:01,760 That is not what the statute says. 28 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,720 The Texas Secretary of State's own office told the news 29 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,720 in October 2024 that party approval applies, quote, only during 30 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,640 the primaries, end quote. 31 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,440 So either this court knows that it has been spreading 32 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,480 misinformation, or this court does not understand the statute. 33 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:18,720 I do not like either one of these answers. 34 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,840 The public asking for countywide voting on election day aren't 35 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:23,120 confused because they are slow. 36 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,760 They're confused because they listened to the Commissioner's Court. 37 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:27,840 They trusted their county government to tell them the truth 38 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,080 about their own election law, and trust is the only 39 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:31,760 thing this building runs on. 40 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,120 Second thing, your elections administrator told the Denton Record Chronicle 41 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,800 on September 14th, 2022, quote, we just haven't gotten around 42 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,440 to completing the report and application yet, end quote. 43 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,000 Denton County is not on the Secretary of State's approved 44 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,040 list as of today. 45 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,840 Denton County has never appeared in a single legislative report 46 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,200 under election code four three point zero zero seven, subsection 47 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,360 J, going back to twenty thirteen. 48 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,000 One hundred counties are on that list, and Denton County 49 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:56,960 is not one of them. 50 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,200 Your own website still says Denton County will have to 51 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,840 make an application to the state. 52 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,920 to We'll have, as in future tense. 53 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,320 And as of last October, your administrator said it had 54 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:06,360 not been started. 55 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,760 Now I may be confused, and if I am, please 56 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:10,440 put it on the agenda for next week and set 57 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,000 the record straight with the provision of the Texas Election 58 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,440 Code that requires political party consent for a November general 59 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:17,160 election. 60 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,440 Otherwise, please set the public hearing under subsection B and 61 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,720 file the application. 62 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,040 If you won't, please say so out loud so these 63 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,400 folks understand the Commissioner's Court is responsible for this decision. 64 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,720 Because there's nothing a Texan hates worse than being told 65 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:31,560 sorry, there's nothing I can do. 66 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,120 Early voting starts October nineteenth through the thirtieth. 67 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:35,000 Thank you very much.