<p>AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Secretary of State Ruth Ruggero Hughs, the state’s top elections official, will resign at the end of May, according to a letter she sent to Gov. Greg Abbott.</p>
<p>Hughs was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/6ef1c0d4220242fdabc67c699d0f3bce">appointed</a> by Abbott in 2019, but never received a required confirmation vote by the state Senate and must step down when the legislative session ends, according to the state Constitution.</p>
<p>Hughs’ resignation is effective May 31, the final day of the session.</p>
<p>Senate Nominations Committee Chair Dawn Buckingham’s office declined comment to The <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/21/secretary-of-state-resign-texas/">Texas Tribune</a> on why Hughs’ nomination was never considered. Buckingham’s chief of staff, Aaron Harris, also declined comment to The Associated Press. </p>
<p>Hughs’ resignation comes as Texas is on course to become the nation’s largest state to tighten restrictions on voting. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ga-state-wire-donald-trump-texas-voting-legislation-8ea3c4936363fd7c680a8b7c0582a27b">GOP legislation </a> just a few steps away from the desk of Abbott, a Republican who has vowed to support stricter voting rules. What exactly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-texas-bills-voting-health-93713455d3bce1959f55a12c287a5e51">that legislation </a> will say is not clear as it is in the hands of a bipartisan committee tasked with reaching a compromise on the final language.</p>
<p>In her letter to Abbott dated Thursday, Hughs, a lawyer, expressed gratitude for her appointment and said only that the time is right for her to step down.</p>
<p>“I am proud of what we have accomplished and recognize this is the right time to transition and turn my attention to private practice,” Hughs wrote.</p>
<p>Hughs was appointed to replace former Secretary of State David Whitley, who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/35baea0441584939b358392d2b0fb26e">resigned</a> in May 2019 amid backlash for wrongly questioning the U.S. citizenship of nearly 100,000 voters.</p>
