Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasts “frivolous” lawsuit attempting to the fund that voters approved Nov. 4. Plaintiffs claim voting machines were faulty.
The state’s new $3 billion dementia research fund has been blocked temporarily by a trio of voters who claim voting machines used in this month’s election are faulty.
The plaintiffs — Shannon Huggins, Lars Kuslich and Jose Silvester — filed the action Nov. 13 in Travis County against the Texas Secretary of State’s office. In it, they claim that some voting machines were not certified by federal law and that the election results should be scrapped and a new election be ordered.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick championed the fund during the legislative session and listed it as a priority for lawmakers. On Wednesday, he slammed the plaintiffs for singling out Proposition 14, which was the funding of the research effort.
“Surprisingly, none of the other propositions were challenged in court under this pretense,” Patrick said in a statement. “This attack on DPRIT is disgusting and is a disservice to the roughly 500,000 Texans who suffer from some form of dementia, and their families who suffer along with them.”
The plaintiffs, who are representing themselves without an attorney, do not say why they are only protesting the results that overwhelmingly approved the funding of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT) and not the other 16 propositions Texans considered on the same ballot. But, they note the large amount of taxpayer money involved. “As Texas taxpayers, Contestants suffer a distinct injury from the $3 billion diversion of general revenue triggered by proposition 14’s passage from illegal votes,” the lawsuit states.
Under current law, constitutional amendments can’t go into effect if their election results are challenged in court. House Bill 16, which passed the Legislature in September, changes that but it doesn’t become law until Dec. 4. Because HB 16 isn’t in effect yet, DPRIT’s funding mechanism is halted.
State officials in recent years have bemoaned the tactic of using lawsuits to halt constitutional amendments from going into effect despite voter approval. In 2023, right-wing activists filed multiple lawsuits to block constitutional amendments in the days after the election, also based on claims — considered false at that time — that cast doubt on the state’s voting equipment.
In the most recent lawsuit, two of the three plaintiffs — Huggins and Kuslich — have filed previous challenges about voting machines in other elections.
Patrick called the plaintiffs’ efforts lawsuit abuse. “This frivolous lawsuit has prevented the DPRIT constitutional amendment from taking effect, despite Proposition 14’s passage with nearly 70% of the vote!” Patrick said.
He also urged the legal system to take expedient action to allow DPRIT to become law.
The Texas Tribune reached out to the plaintiffs for additional comment but they did not immediately respond.
By establishing this research fund, Texas hopes to attract physicians, researchers, and experts in the field of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and related disorders in this state, to Texas. The institute would research all brain diseases and be governed by a board of physicians and scientists with expertise in brain research. Grants could be awarded for projects addressing the causes, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of patients, as well as creating new medicines and new facilities to help treat them.
The initial $3 billion that voters approved would come from the state’s surplus or rainy day fund.
Texas is growing older faster than the rest of the nation. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 459,000 Texans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, about 12% of the state’s population over the age of 65. Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, accounts for about 80% of cases, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. While a 2023 study shows that the eastern and southeastern United States have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s, Texas is one of three states that has the highest estimated number of older residents who are at risk of Alzheimer’s.
Source: Terri Langford, The Texas Tribune
Photo Credit: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at a press conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin on June 23, 2025. Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune
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