Voter fraud initiative

Primaries for the midterm election are next month, and Attorney General Ken Paxton has set up an initiative to reduce voter fraud in the state.

In a letter to Senator Bryan Huges, Paxton highlights the lack of safeguard in the voting systems to detect ineligible voters and discusses additional ways to address mail-in ballot fraud. He also found that the process for removing those ineligible voters is not being followed correctly. Some of the measures include requiring notice that non-citizens are being removed from voter rolls, increasing the penalty for false statements on voter registration applications, and requiring election officials to report fraudulent voting activity to all relevant state and local authorities.

Last session, Texas legislators passed Senate Bill 5 making it a state jail felony to give false information on ballot applications or submit an application without a voter's permission.

Is voter fraud a real problem or is it a smoke screen for Paxton? On the Factor to discuss this is Democratic consultant Michael Kolenc and Conservative Ben Streusand.