by Emily Medeiros
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced over the weekend that convicted felons accused of illegally casting ballots in Texas have been arrested.
According to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, a concerned citizen reported that convicted felons who were incarcerated, on parole, or on probation allegedly voted in Harris County.
Soon after the report, the Office of the Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit investigated the claims and collected evidence of potential violations of the Texas Election Code.
Under Article 6, Section 1(a)(3) of the Texas Constitution, those convicted of felonies are barred from voting, subject to exceptions the state legislature may make.
The Texas Legislature has pass exceptions, including laws that allow people convicted of a felony to vote or register to vote if they have been “fully discharged” from their sentence by completing their full sentence, which includes incarceration, parole, community supervision, and probation, or if they have received a pardon or have been released from the “resulting disability to vote.”
The Election Integrity Unit analysts verified the identities of the individuals, reviewed their voter registration records, and examined whether they had cast their ballots. Once the investigation was complete, they referred the individuals to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for verification of their criminal status.
Several of the identified individuals have been confirmed to have been on parole when they cast their ballots, making them ineligible to vote.
“Today, my office arrested convicted felons for voting illegally in Texas. My Election Integrity Unit is actively investigating additional reports of election crimes,” Paxton said. “We will continue working to protect the lawful votes of Texans.”
On Oct. 30, arrest warrants were issued in Montgomery County for the individuals accused of illegally voting, and the individuals were later arrested.
Paxton’s office says it will continue to investigate allegations of illegal voting to ensure fair and free elections in the state.
The identities of the individuals arrested have not been revealed at this time.
Like Texas, Tennessee announced it had charged six foreign nationals for allegedly illegally voting in elections.
These foreign nationals were from Jamaica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Iraq, France and Canada.
“American citizenship is a precious inheritance and the right to vote is one of the most important and solemn trusts of citizenship,” U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek said. “Tennesseans need to know that those who vote illegally will be prosecuted to protect the integrity of our federal elections.”
Election Day is Nov. 3.
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Emily Medeiros is the Texas Correspondent for the Daily Signal. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Voting Booths” by Lorie Shaull. CC BY 2.0.
