Travis County
Central Texas county whose seat is Austin, the state capital.
Travis County won its fight over federal grant strings when a Washington judge, Amir Ali, threw out FEMA's ballot-related conditions on 28 September 2026; County Attorney Delia Garza said Washington cannot "strongarm cities, counties, and states".
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Travis County
Mentioned in: Judge Ali voids FEMA election conditions
US Midterms 2026Background
Travis County is the central Texas county that contains Austin, the state capital and its county seat. It had about 1.36 million residents in July 2024 by Census Bureau estimate, the fifth most of any Texas county.
In August 2026 Travis became a plaintiff against the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, alongside Harris, Dallas and El Paso counties, Nashville's metropolitan government and Columbus, Ohio. At issue were strings FEMA had tied to Homeland Security Grant Program counterterrorism funding: use of the SAVE citizenship-check system, a hand audit of 5% of paper ballots, and a shift away from voting machines. A state that refused would forfeit a fifth of its allocation.
On 28 September a federal judge in Washington, Amir Ali, set the conditions aside. Delia Garza, the County Attorney, said the courts had made clear that "the federal government cannot trample the law or the Constitution to strongarm cities, counties, and states".