December 19, 2018 The Honorable Governor of

RE: Secretary of State, Chief Elections Officer for Texas

Dear Governor Abbott:

Your appointment this week of David Whitley to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Rolando Pablos represents an important opportunity for you to require a higher standard for the Office of Texas Secretary of State. As citizen-initiated investigations continue to reveal escalating evidence of voter fraud, process weaknesses, and what we consider to be rogue actions by SOS employees who routinely ignore or thwart law by issuing waivers, Texans are demanding that the Secretary of State protect our elections.

By law, the Secretary of State acts as the chief elections officer for the State of Texas, assisting county election officials and ensuring the uniform application and interpretation of election laws throughout Texas. We raise this fact because it sometimes appears that the extra duties assigned by executive order to the Texas Secretary of State – the more glamorous duties of acting as senior advisor and liaison to the Governor for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs and serving as Chief International Protocol Officer for Texas – have become far more important than the constitutional role relating to elections.

Since your first term in office, grassroots Texans have called on you to promote and enact needed reforms to ensure election integrity. We note that you’ve taken a strong public stance on fraud, and good election integrity bills bear your signature. Thank you.

While your work to date is headed in the right direction, we’ve identified