THE TOP FIVE VOTER FRAUD CASES IN TEXAS
By Steven Ahle, 1/2/19.
Some people would say that Texas has
more voter fraud than any other state. I disagree. It may seem like it, but I
think the reason we might think that is because Texas is very much determined
to end voter fraud and they pursue it more than any other states.
But Texas did have five big cases right
along the border with Mexico in which there are a lot of Democrats. That makes
for a very ripe situation for voter fraud. Included in the voter fraud count is
Tarrant County, where a Democratic official actually sponsored a large voter
fraud scheme.
From Breitbart News: Here are the top 5 voter fraud cases
along the Texas border in 2018.
1. Three arrested in Starr County investigation for fraudulently
filling in mail-in ballots–one for a dead person.
In January, authorities arrested Ernestina Barron, 50, a Rio Grande
City school district employee, on three counts of election fraud and three
counts of a fraudulent application for a mail-in ballot for filling out
applications illegally for other voters in an earlier election.
Days later, officials charged Erika Lozano-Pelayo, 37, after she purportedly
submitted an absentee ballot for a voter who died but remained on the voter
registration rolls. A third woman, Belinda Garcia, 45, surrendered to the Starr County Special Crimes
Unit on a charge of fraudulently applying for a mail-in ballot. She reportedly
said the voter was disabled but this was not true.
2. 14 Hidalgo County residents charged in voter fraud scheme. - A total of 14 residents were arrested
for their purported roles in a voter scheme that recruited people to falsely
claim residential addresses so they could vote in specific races and manipulate
the results of a 2017 Edinburg city election. Investigators with the Hidalgo
County DA’s office, the Texas Rangers, and Office of Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton initially arrested four of the suspects in May 2018,
all of whom illegally voted in that 2017 election.
One was a convicted human smuggler
serving probation who voted illegally. Two claimed to live in the city’s
limits, but, in fact, resided elsewhere. Another suspect was only charged with
making a false statement on a voter registration form. In June, county
officials charged a fifth person with two counts of illegal voting. Then, in
November, nine more were arrested. The investigation continues and more
arrests may come in 2019.
3. Non-U.S. citizen indicted for leading “voter assistance” ring that
targeted elderly and disabled voters in Hidalgo County – In
June, a Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Marcela Guttierrez, a non-U.S.
citizen on an illegal voting charge for misleading a voter to believe she was
demonstrating how to use a voting machine when, actually, Guttierez voted for a
slate of candidates she was paid to support in a June 2016 Hidalgo city runoff
election. Two of her fellow campaign workers, Sylvia Arojano and Sara Ornelas,
also were charged with seven counts of unlawfully assisting voters. Reportedly,
Arojano is married to a school board member for the Hidalgo County school
district.
4. Poll watcher accuses Hidalgo city official of unlawfully assisting a
voter in the 2018 midterm - In
December, the Texas Secretary of State escalated a voter fraud complaint to
Paxton’s office. A poll watcher accused Hidalgo City Councilman Rodolfo
“Rudy” Franz of unlawfully assisting a voter during the 2018 midterm election’s
early voting period. The complaint alleged that Franz suggested and instructed
the voter on who to vote for on their ballot even though Franz was asked
multiple times by election workers to stop.
5. Texas Democratic Party accused of encouraging noncitizens to vote in
2018 November midterm in Rio Grande Valley - An October complaint accused the Texas Democratic Party of mailing “altered” voter
registration applications to noncitizens in the Rio Grande Valley. The mailers
allegedly had the U.S. citizenship box pre-checked, creating false claims to
voter eligibility.
The document urged recipients to vote in the
November midterm election. The box asking if a voter will be 18 years of age on
or before election day also was pre-filled. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, an election
integrity law firm, alerted Starr and Hidalgo county district attorneys, Paxton,
Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, and the U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ) about the complaint. Subsequently, Pablos referred the complaint to Paxton’s office
for further investigation.
While Texas border voter fraud
cases permeated Breitbart News coverage, other high profiles cases in the Lone
Star State garnered honorable mentions:
Texas AG to prosecute three indicted on nine counts of voter fraud in
Nueces County 2016 Democratic primary runoff.
Paxton announced his office would prosecute three
residents indicted by a grand jury on nine counts of voter fraud stemming back
to a May 2016 Nueces County Democratic primary runoff election. County Clerk
Kara Sands presented data to a local commissioners’
court in January that unmasked the alleged voter fraud.
Salvadoran illegal immigrant living in East Texas since the 1980s was
indicted on voter fraud and immigration violations charges.
In June, Texas prosecutors indicted Salvadoran national Mario Obdulio
Orellana, 57, who lived illegally in the state since the 1980s. Officials said
Orellana purportedly falsified documents to obtain a U.S. birth certificate,
applied for and received a U.S. passport and a Social Security number. Prosecutors
said Orellano claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote and
fraudulently cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election.
Mexican national faces deportation after pleading guilty to voter fraud
in Texas
- In September,
Mexican national Laura Janeth Garza, 38, pleaded guilty to voter fraud charges for voting in three
election cycles, including 2016. She did so by stealing a Texan’s identity to
obtain a U.S. passport and Social Security number. The American citizen
victim learned about the fraud when she tried to apply for a passport in her
own name and discovered Garza already did so. Garza was sentenced to 10 years
in jail, after which she will be deported.
Texas AG: Democratic Party leader funded “voter fraud ring” in Tarrant
County - In
October, Paxton’s office indicted four North Texas women for their
alleged roles in a “voter fraud ring” that targeted the elderly in select
northern Fort Worth precincts during the March 2016 Democrat Party primary
election.
Subsequently released court
documents revealed the ringleader, Leticia Sanchez,
57, allegedly paid her co-defendants with funds provided by the then Tarrant
County Democratic Party Executive Director, Stuart Clegg. The scheme reportedly
intended to influence the outcome of certain down-ballot races. Allegedly, they
did this by “seeding” or proliferating mail-in ballots through forged
signatures and altering historical applications, then resubmitting them without
the voter’s knowledge.
In Texas, illegal voting is a second
degree felony punishable up to 20 years in $10,000 fine. Making a false
statement on a voter registration application is a Class B misdemeanor.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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