得克萨斯州哈里斯县休斯顿市得州总检察长办公室10月29日诉哈里斯县书记官：指针对亚裔等族群的投票广告违法
得克萨斯州总检察长办公室10月29日向法院起诉哈里斯县书记官及其办公室通讯主任，指控县选举部门在社交平台投放的选民宣传广告违反得州宪法。诉状称，哈里斯县选举部门在脸书与照片墙上投放“计划、核查、投票”主题广告，鼓励居民在11月3日大选前投票，广告定向触及非裔、亚裔与拉丁裔受众，定向兴趣标签包括“非裔美国人历史”“西班牙裔厨房”“拉丁舞”等。州方认为，只针对特定族裔群体投放投票宣传、而不针对其他群体，违反了得州宪法对平等权利的保护，要求法院发布临时限制令，立即停用相关广告或删除族裔定向条件，并发布临时与永久禁令，禁止类似做法。
诉状称，县方在过去30天内为相关广告花费约43429美元。州总检察长办公室表示，总检察长帕克斯顿因本人是11月3日中期选举参议员候选人而回避本案，他将对阵民主党人塔拉里科。报道称，福克斯26台已联系哈里斯县书记官办公室征求回应。哈里斯县提前投票将于10月30日星期五结束，投票日为11月3日星期二。亚裔选民组织此前公布的投票资源提醒，选民在投票站遇到困难可拨打亚裔语言选举保护热线888-274-8683求助。
Houston, Harris County, Texas: State Attorney General's Office Sues Harris County Clerk on Oct. 29 Over Voter Ads Allegedly Targeting Asian and Other Ethnic Groups
The Texas Attorney General's Office filed suit in court on October 29 against the Harris County clerk and the communications director of the clerk's office, alleging that voter-awareness advertisements placed by the county elections department on social media violate the Texas Constitution. According to the filing, the Harris County Elections Department ran "Plan. Check. Vote." advertisements on Facebook and Instagram encouraging residents to vote ahead of the November 3 general election, with the ads targeted to African American, Asian and Latino audiences through interest tags such as "African-American history," "Hispanic kitchen" and "Latin dance." The state argues that targeting voter outreach only to certain racial and ethnic groups, and not to others, violates the equal rights protections of the Texas Constitution, and it asks the court for a temporary restraining order immediately deactivating the ads or removing the ethnic targeting criteria.
It also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions barring similar practices.
The filing says the county spent about $43,429 on the ads over the past 30 days. The Attorney General's Office said Attorney General Ken Paxton recused himself from the case because he is a candidate for U.S. Senate in the November 3 midterm election, where he faces Democrat James Talarico. FOX 26 reported it has reached out to the Harris County Clerk's Office for a response. Early voting in Harris County ends Friday, October 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Asian American voter organizations remind voters that anyone who runs into difficulty at the polls can call the Asian-language election protection hotline at 888-274-8683 for help.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：哈里斯县1910年法院大楼（休斯顿）。i_am_jim 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Harris County 1910 Courthouse in Houston. Photo: i_am_jim, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
