The voter fraud case comes a little over a year after Texas Governor Greg Abbott passed an election integrity bill.
Attorney General Ken Paxton said that a woman who committed 26 charges of voting fraud had been successfully prosecuted.
In Victoria County, Texas, Monica Mendez pleaded guilty to 26 felony counts of voter fraud, including “three counts of illegal voting, eight counts of election fraud, seven counts of assisting a voter to submit a ballot by mail, and eight counts of unlawful possession of a mail ballot,” according to Paxton’s office.
Mendez was in command of a vote-harvesting scheme aimed at influencing the outcome of a local utility board election, according to the indictment. She was sentenced to five years of deferred adjudication probation after submitting guilty pleas.
The verdict comes less than a year after Texas Governor Greg Abbott passed a new election integrity legislation, which sparked outrage from opponents who argued it was intended to restrict minority voting.
The measure outlawed early voting hours on weekends and drive-thru voting, while also granting poll observers access to polling places by requiring them to be able to “see or hear” any activity at the polling place.
“One thing that all Texans can agree on is that our elections must inspire trust and confidence. The law I’m going to sign contributes to that aim “At the time, Abbott said. “However, the legislation makes it more difficult to cast fake ballots.”
Paxton said his office’s Election Integrity Unit investigated the newest prosecution under the legislation in Victoria County, with the Victoria County District Attorney’s Office also participating in the investigation.
Mckourage