The Texan recently reported that Jonathan White, head of the Texas Election Integrity Unit in the Office of the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division, told the Texas House Elections Committee that the number of election fraud lawsuits in Texas has reached an all-time high.
Asked by a state lawmaker at the meeting about the status of cases involving election integrity prosecutions, White said, “There are 510 election-related cases that are in court right now and 43 defendants that are pending in court.” White said about 80 percent of those cases awaiting adjudication involve alleged vote-by-mail fraud; 60 percent of the resolved cases involve vote-by-mail ballots.
Last week, the Republican-led Texas Senate approved legislation to ban mail-in ballot drop boxes and most drive-thru voting. Republicans say the measure “ensures the integrity of elections. Democrats counter that it is voter suppression and makes it more difficult for people with disabilities and minorities to vote.
State Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican, said the measure “is designed to address areas where the bad guys can take advantage of the process because we want Texans to believe their elections are fair, honest and open. The legislation “standardizes and clarifies” voting rules so that “everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to vote, regardless of where they live in the state.
The bill would also require voters with disabilities to prove they are unable to physically access the polls in order to qualify for a mail-in ballot, and would require the state’s top leaders to authorize oversight of the use of any private funds donated to the elections department in excess of $1,000.
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