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Texas Secretary of State announces widespread voter fraud in recent elections

Posted at 3:46 PM, Jan 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-25 16:46:19-05

Texas Secretary of State David Whitley announced Friday that 95,000 non-citizens who are currently registered to vote in the state of Texas, including 58,000 of whom have voted in one or more elections.

“Integrity and efficiency of elections in Texas require accuracy of our state’s voter rolls, and my office is committed to using all available tools under the law to maintain an accurate list of registered voters,” Whitley said.

The Secretary of State cannot remove those voters from the rolls themselves. That is up to county elections officials. Whitley has recommended counties take action by sending notices to the non-U.S. voters that would give them a chance to prove they are legal U.S. citizens and eligible to vote.

The list has been forwarded to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for potential legal action against those individuals. It is a felony for a person to vote in Texas when they know they are not eligible.

“Nothing is more vital to preserving our Constitution than the integrity of our voting process, and my office will do everything within its abilities to solidify trust in every election in the state of Texas,” Paxton said in a prepared statement.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey was appreciative of Whitley’s work.

“We applaud the efforts by the office of the Texas Secretary of State to expose this widespread voter fraud,” Dickey said. “Secretary of State David Whitley’s announcement provides undeniable proof that voter fraud has been significant – even in Texas.

“Identifying ineligible registrations and removing them from the voter rolls is the first step toward restoring integrity to our electoral process. No doubt these voters affected election results in 2018. We can not afford voter fraud in 2020 and must stop this abuse now. It is a crime and it is damaging to our republic. We ask the Legislature to consider what additional changes may be needed to reduce potential voter fraud and protect the right to vote for all Texas citizens.”

The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced the identification of 95,000 non-citizens who were on the voter rolls shortly before 2 p.m. Friday.