Texas House Pursues Crackdown On Mail-In Ballot Fraud
Voter fraud and how to crack down on it was at the center of debate today at the State Capitol. House lawmakers want tougher penalties for people who fill out fraudulent mail-in ballots. The Senate passed similar legislation on a near party-line vote earlier this week.
The Texas Election Code, or TEC, currently treats several forms of mail-in ballot fraud as misdemeanors. The House is now weighing several bills that would raise the crimes to felonies.
Alan Vera, chair of the Harris County Republican Party’s Ballot Security Committee, testified in favor of the legislation before the House Elections Committee. “We can’t persuade any county district attorney to prosecute most violations of TEC today,” said Vera, “because most violations today are misdemeanors, somehow below the threshold of interest of local DAs whose calendars are backlogged with felonies.”
Glen Maxey, legislative affairs director for the Texas Democratic Party, testified Democrats are just as concerned about mail-in ballot fraud as Republicans. But he doesn’t think toughening penalties alone will solve the problem.
Read more: http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/07/28/227824/texas-house-pursues-crackdown-on-mail-in-ballot-fraud/
