Election law in Texas is “very demanding” and “stressful because of the accelerated nature of the calendar,” says Elizabeth D. Alvarez. Elizabeth is head of civil litigation/election litigation at Guest & Gray and a 12-year election litigation practitioner who has represented state parties, national parties, and candidates on both sides of the aisle. She tells hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders that roughly 90% of Texas election litigation flows from the statutory writ of mandamus and injunction under Chapter 273 of the Election Code, and that fewer than 30 lawyers in the state have litigated a writ more than three times. She also tackles election integrity, calling voting machines “safer than paper.” Tune in for her war story about winning an election contest that was so strange she felt like she was living in a John Grisham novel.
Listen to or watch the episode through the players below.
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- 0:00 Meet the Lawyer Behind Texas Election Battles
- 0:42 How She Became One of Texas’ Top Election Litigators
- 2:51 Why Most Election Problems Don’t Get Fixed in Time
- 6:54 The 2 Legal Tools That Decide Most Election Cases
- 7:15 Challenging an Election Result: Almost Impossible?
- 11:15 What Really Happens During a Recount
- 17:22 The Rule That Kills Cases—Even If You’re Right
- 30:46 “Trial by Chaos”: Inside an Election Lawsuit
- 40:07 Why Only ~30 Lawyers Can Handle These Cases
- 49:26 Is Election Fraud Real? A Lawyer’s Honest Answer
- 56:08 Wild Courtroom Story: Ballots Pulled From a Purse
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