Election Law Lawyer Joins Term Limit Lawsuit

"Lawsuit Challenges New Houston Term Limits"

Taylor tells KTRH the case of Prop 2 is another example of ballot deception. "The truth is it was a trick to extend terms, not limit them," he says. At issue is the wording which emphasized reducing the total number of elected terms from three to two, even though the individual terms and total possible time in office are longer under the new rules. "Prior to the vote, you had three two-year terms so the maximum time an elected official in Houston could hold office was six years...after the vote, that increased to eight years (two four-year terms)," says Taylor.

The bottom line, according to the lawsuit, is that voters were tricked into thinking they were limiting officials' time in office when they were in fact doing the opposite. "You cannot deceive or mislead voters who read the ballot language you write, into believing that they're passing something that is the opposite of what was intended," says Taylor.