“We have thought through potential scenarios and are prepared,” District Attorney José Garza said. Sheriff Sally Hernandez said her office recently hosted a workshop for local law enforcement on election integrity and security. “We don’t anticipate issues of any kind, but we prepare for every possibility,” she said.

The preparations come as election administrators in several states have mapped out legal and operational responses to potential federal intervention. Nevada officials have drafted templates for possible court filings, according to Votebeat, while officials in California, Utah, Michigan and South Carolina have also prepared for disruptions, news organizations have reported.

Former Justice Department attorney Gary Restaino told NPR that one concern is a search warrant executed after Election Day that could result in voting equipment or records being seized before ballots are fully counted and results certified. At a September event, former presidential adviser David Axelrod raised the possibility of federal action at polling places; Republican strategist Karl Rove dismissed his concerns as “ridiculous.” President Donald Trump has made repeated statements questioning election procedures and has not ruled out using the Insurrection Act during the midterms, according to reports cited in the Austin Chronicle’s account.

Travis County has already joined two lawsuits challenging federal actions related to elections. In August, the county clerk’s office joined a case contesting an executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to refuse to deliver mail ballots in states that did not provide certain voter information. The county also joined a lawsuit after the administration threatened to withhold about $667,000 in counterterrorism funding unless the county adopted paper ballots and citizenship checks for voters.

The county has also processed 32,000 voter registration applications sent by the Texas Department of Public Safety in September, according to Tax Assessor-Collector Celia Israel. The applications were part of more than 500,000 registrations delayed statewide by the agency. State Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, described the situation as potentially intentional misconduct.

Election misinformation is another concern. In Colorado, officials responded to messages from Elon Musk’s America PAC that told voters their mail-ballot requests had been received, even though recipients had not made such requests. The messages directed voters to confirm where and when to return ballots through the PAC. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called the messages misleading, and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs advised voters to avoid the unofficial site votesafe.org and check details with local election officials.

Money and advertising are also shaping the closely watched Texas Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. The New York Times reported that Musk had spent at least $366 million on the 2026 election and that two September donations to the Senate Leadership Fund, totaling $158 million, were followed by matching payments to a PAC supporting Paxton. Some ads attacking Talarico have claimed he supports taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for children; Talarico has publicly opposed such procedures. Other Paxton campaign advertising has used AI-generated material to criticize Talarico on religious grounds.

Garza urged Travis County residents to get election details directly from local officials. He said the county expects early voting and Election Day to be “smooth and free of interference,” and encouraged voters to take part regardless of their political preference.