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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state's highest criminal court to restore his authority to prosecute violations of election law. In an 8-1 ruling last month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals struck down a 1985 state law that empowered the attorney general to pursue criminal violations of the Election Code. The all-Republican court ruled that the law violated the state Constitution's separation of powers by giving Paxton's executive branch office an authority that belongs to district and county attorneys, who are members of the judicial branch. Paxton filed a motion on Sunday asking the court to reconsider.