President Trump has repeatedly warned that voter fraud by mail could happen on a national level, and now the Texas Attorney General’s Office says it has happened in East Texas on a local level.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown and three other people; Marlena Jackson, Charlie Burns, and DeWayne Ward, have been arrested on a total of 134 felony charges connected to an alleged organized vote harvesting scheme. Paxton says it happened during the 2018 Democratic Primary Election.
According to Paxton, the four are accused of increasing the pool of ballots needed to swing the 2018 election into Brown’s favor. Paxton said the group targeted “young, able-bodied voters” to cast ballots by mail, and fraudulently claimed that the voters were “disabled”. Paxton pointed out that in most cases, this was done without the voters’ knowledge or consent.
It was noted by Paxton that Texas election law states that mail in ballots that are based on disability are specifically reserved for those who are physically ill and cannot vote in-person as a result.
Paxton says if found guilty, each defendant faces 6 months to 99 years in prison.
The AG’s Office gave a number of charges on each defendant:
~ Shannon Brown – 23 felony counts
~ Marlena Jackson – 97 felony counts
~ Charlie Burns – 8 felony counts
~ DeWayne Ward – 6 felony counts
The AG’s Office says each defendant has been charged with:
~ Engaging in Organized Election Fraud
~ Illegal Voting
~ Fraudulent Use of an Application for a Mail-in Ballot
~ Unlawful possession of a Mail-in Ballot
~ Tampering with a Governmental Record
~ Election Fraud
https://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_b94bb13c-ff7b-11ea-a22b-1702336f9992.html