Less than a month before the Nov. 8 election, allegations of
voter fraud in Tarrant County are under investigation by the state,
prompting concern that the timing may intimidate some voters — and
possibly lay groundwork for the Legislature to enact more restrictions
on voting next year.
The complaints focus on mail-in ballots, which allow people to vote from their homes without any ID or verification of identity.
Supporters
have long said mail-in balloting is crucial for overseas residents, the
military and senior citizens. Critics maintain that such voting is ripe
for abuse and raises concerns about “vote harvesting,” in which people
could fill out and return other people’s ballots.
Some say the investigation is politically motivated; others say it’s addressing a practice that has been a problem for years.
“The
Republicans have been looking for a blockbuster case to demonstrate
that voter fraud isn’t just a series of small mistakes,” said Brandon
Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
“If some of these allegations turn out to be true, they may finally
have their white whale.
“Whether there is lawbreaking or
not, the issue of voting is polarized and revelations this close to an
election are bound to have an effect on Democratic Party and affiliated
groups’ efforts to get out the vote. Voters may be hesitant to sign up
for or vote through a mail-in ballot, let alone give it to someone else.
This may reduce turnout in some heavily Democratic areas that utilize
this process.”
Local officials say workers with Texas
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office have been in the reliably red
Tarrant County gathering paperwork and interviewing potential witnesses.
The
attorney general’s office declined to “confirm or deny investigations”
or comment on the situation. When asked for the complaints that started
the local investigation, attorney general’s workers declined to release
them, expressing concern that doing so might hamper a criminal
investigation.
The Tarrant County Elections Administration has declined to comment on the issue.
“There could be a problem,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said. “I really believe our folks are very much on top of things.
The voter fraud they are referring to can only be corrected by doing away with mail-in ballots. Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley
“That’s
the whole problem with mail-in ballots,” he said. “Someone requests a
ballot and we don’t know if they got the ballot, filled it out and
returned it. The voter fraud they are referring to can only be corrected
by doing away with mail-in ballots.”
Mail-in ballots
The
mail-in ballots involved in the state investigation are from the primary elections, local officials say.
At
issue is how often people may assist others — or physically help by
witnessing — with filling out applications for mail-in ballots or the
ballots themselves.
Texans may assist as many people as
they like in requesting mail-in ballots. But each person is allowed to
witness only one request for a mail-in ballot per year, unless it’s for
more than one immediate family member.
In the primaries,
about 20,000 applications for mail-in ballots were received at the
Tarrant County elections office, Whitley said.
Of those,
131 involved witnesses. Of those 131, five people witnessed more than
one mail-in ballot. Four of those five people witnessed requests from
multiple family members, which is allowed. One apparently witnessed five
applications from the same address, a nursing home or a retirement
center.
That case was turned over to state investigators.
“We’re
not currently involved with the AG’s investigation,” said Samantha
Jordan, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County district attorney’s
office. “It’s possible they may decide at some point to seek our
assistance with some local cases, but we are not to that point yet.”
Jordan said the DA’s office supports the investigation.
Protecting the purity of the voter registration process goes directly to the heart of our system of government. Samantha Jordan, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office
“It’s
important to ensure our processes are running as efficiently and
effectively as they’re meant to be,” she said. “Protecting the purity of
the voter registration process goes directly to the heart of our system
of government.”
Jordan said there is one case of alleged voter fraud in the local system right now —
Rosa Maria Ortega
of Grand Prairie, who was arrested last year and accused of voting in
two elections although she is not a U.S. citizen. She is accused of
voting in person during the November 2012 general election and the May
2014 Republican primary runoff in Dallas County “when she knew she was
not a United States citizen,” according to a Tarrant County grand jury
indictment. A trial in the case is scheduled for Oct. 31 in Criminal
District Court No. 3.
‘Reform the election code’
Aaron
Harris of North Richland Hills, a Republican political consultant, is
expected to talk about the issue during a meeting that begins at 6:45
p.m. Monday at the Elks Lodge, 3233 White Settlement Road in Fort Worth.
The
meeting announcement states that “there is evidence that two current
elected officials are in office due to election fraud” and Harris will
reveal “the elected officials who possibly benefited from the alleged
crimes.”
Harris, a former campaign manager for state Rep.
Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, has opposed bond programs including the
one that was proposed for John Peter Smith Hospital last year. He has
worked with Dallas businessman Monty Bennett to campaign against
directors on the Tarrant Regional Water District board.
He has been looking into voting concerns, including
those expressed by former state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who lost his re-election bid in 2014 by 111 votes.
Burnam
filed a lawsuit challenging the results, saying he believed that an
“illegal computerized-signature vote-by-mail operation” was run by his
opponent, Ramon Romero, who now is the representative for Texas House
District 90.
Burnam dropped the lawsuit months later
after judges refused to require county election officials to release the
vote-by-mail applications that were in question.
“Virtually
every local election I know anything about has been disproportionately
impacted by mail-in ballot harvesting program run by a handful of
people,” Burnam said. “The only way to fix it is to automatically mail
ballots out to all voters over 65.”
Romero said he believes that Paxton’s office will find there are “completely false accusations” in the local complaint.
If
there’s an investigation, so be it. Let them investigate. I’m going to
continue to do what I’ve always done, encourage people to vote early, in
person or by mail. If this has an ill effect on people’s right to vote
by mail, … it’s unfortunate. State Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth
“If
there’s an investigation, so be it. Let them investigate,” he said.
“I’m going to continue to do what I’ve always done, encourage people to
vote early, in person or by mail. If this has an ill effect on people’s
right to vote by mail, … it’s unfortunate.”
Gov. Greg
Abbott weighed in on the issue after Empower Texans posted a blog
statement about the AG looking into a “vote-harvesting scheme” in
Tarrant County. “Largest Voter Fraud Investigation in Texas History
Underway in Tarrant County,” he tweeted. “We will crush illegal voting.”
Abbott’s office declined to comment beyond the governor’s tweet.
Harris,
of DFW-based Direct Action Texas, said he has long heard rumors about
the “manipulation of the elections system in Tarrant County.”
“This
vote harvesting operation preys on the elderly and the economically
disadvantaged, who are among our most vulnerable neighbors,” he said in a
statement. “This research has uncovered major flaws in the
election code and its enforcement. We were happy to assist the AG’s office in their investigation.
“Given the magnitude of this issue, we must reform the election code to restore the integrity of the process.”
Legislative focus?
State Rep.
Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, passed
House Bill 148 in 2013 to make ballot harvesting illegal.
Burkett’s
bill was designed to ensure that campaign workers are no longer paid
based on the number of mail-in ballots they collect and mail. It now is a
crime to offer payment based on the number of ballots a person collects
during a Texas election.
Anyone convicted of “ballot
harvesting” faces a misdemeanor charge that could bring 30 days to one
year in jail, as well as a fine of up to $4,000. Repeat offenders face a
state jail felony charge, jail time up to two years and as much as a
$10,000 fine.
Burkett has said the new law “is an attempt
to weed out the ‘bad actors’ that are preying on vulnerable Texans and
corrupting our democratic process.”
The
House Elections Committee
has held several hearings, listening to complaints and concerns from
voters and officials alike. Members have discussed the possible need for
election law reform.
“We understand that, despite all
the lollipops and rainbow talk we hear that there is no election fraud,
there is rampant voter fraud in parts of this state,” state Rep. Mike
Schofield, R-Katy, said during a recent hearing.
During a
separate hearing, officials with the Texas attorney general’s office responded to concerns.
They
were asked whether problems are isolated to perhaps a voter mistakenly
voting here or there, or whether there were organized groups creating
voter fraud.
“It’s certainly organized groups engaging in
voter harvesting,” said Jonathan White, an assistant attorney general
with the attorney general’s office.
A local Democrat speaking privately said this investigation is becoming public now, just in time to make it an issue in the
85th Legislature, since part of the Republican-led voter ID law has been overturned by the courts.
“Now
they are going to try to propose legislation that would make it harder
to vote by mail,” the officeholder said. “Texas has gotten whipped up on
voter ID, so they are trying this.”
Some Republican political consultants say privately that they don’t think there’s much to the local investigation.
It’s amazing, but there’s nothing there. A local Republican political consultant said about the voter fraud investigation
“It’s amazing, but there’s nothing there,” one said. “The law they want changed now is mail-in ballot.
“It
would be hard to imagine that we could get rid of ballots by mail,” the
GOP consultant said. “There are too many people who can’t make it to
the polls — the entire military, people in the hospital, people who are
forced to be out of town. It’s not practical to get rid of it.”
Local concerns
The investigation has prompted concern among officials.
The
Tarrant County Republican Party recently sent out an email titled
“Emergency Voter Fraud Information Inside Alert,” asking Republicans to
serve as election judges and alternate judges.
“History
has repeatedly shown that Democrats will do everything they can to buy,
steal and cheat their way to victory at the ballot box,” the email
stated. “It is up to us to ensure that every vote here in Tarrant County
is PROTECTED and LEGAL.”
The email also asked for poll watchers for both early voting and Election Day.
“We
especially need poll watchers in Democrat-controlled locations,” the
email stated. “Voter ID is still required in Texas. We want to make sure
OUR VOTER ID LAW IS FOLLOWED.”
Tarrant County Democratic
Chairwoman Deborah Peoples said she was shocked that the local
Republican Party would send out such a message.
“This is
supposed to be the kinder, gentler Republican Party,” she said. “They
say they’re reaching out to everybody in the party. Then the first
opportunity they have, they turn around and say, ‘Those Democrats lie
cheat and steal to win an election.’
“This is part of the loss of civility of political parties,” she said. “It’s really sad.”
The Democratic Party also sent out a note requesting election workers.
“The
General Election is fast approaching,” wrote Vera Roberts, liaison for
the local Democratic Party. “Election Judges, Alternate Judges and
clerks are needed throughout Tarrant County to serve on Tuesday,
November 8, 2016.”
