In 2021, the Texas Court docket of Prison Appeals surprised voters by stripping the state’s Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton of an influence his workplace had exercised for greater than 70 years: the flexibility to independently prosecute election fraud.
For Attorney General Ken Paxton, one of many nation’s strongest voices for election integrity, the ruling is a calculated present to Democrats who rely on weak enforcement to guard their ballot-harvesting machines.
Now, Republicans are combating again. Not too long ago, Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano filed Home Joint Decision 1 and Home Invoice 11, laws that may restore the Lawyer Normal’s unbiased authority to prosecute voter fraud.
Rural America faces an enormous election integrity disaster.
I’ve uncovered 2 main instances in South TX: one the place an indicted Dem Home Rep STOLE an election from a GOP candidate, and one other the place AG Paxton arrested 15 Dems for poll harvesting.
— Gregory Lyakhov (@GregoryLyakhov) August 22, 2025
Within the Senate, a near-identical measure, Senate Bill 11, already cleared a preliminary vote. Each measures are barreling by the legislature, with assist from Gov. Greg Abbott, who has made election integrity one among his high priorities for the particular session ending August 19.
The timing couldn’t be extra pressing. Beneath present regulation, Paxton’s workplace can only step in if a neighborhood district legal professional invitations him. That safeguard has confirmed toothless. In case after case, Democrat-aligned prosecutors have shrugged off proof of fraud.
Paxton highlighted the issue himself earlier this yr, warning that “rogue district and county attorneys” are intentionally declining to prosecute instances that threaten their very own political machines.
With out state-level authority, voter fraud is left to native discretion—an open invitation to abuse.
The 2021 case that neutered the AG’s workplace stemmed from Paxton’s prosecution of a southeast Texas sheriff for alleged poll fraud after the 2016 election. The native DA refused to behave, and when Paxton’s staff moved ahead anyway, the sheriff challenged their authority.
WATCH: Texas GOP candidate Jay Furman EXPOSES the CORRUPT ways utilized by DEMOCRATS.
The Court docket sided with the sheriff, successfully rewriting seven a long time of precedent. The ruling meant the state’s high regulation enforcement officer was now powerless to pursue election fraud with out permission from native prosecutors—lots of whom owe their positions to the identical crooked techniques in want of oversight.
Republicans aren’t ready round for one more court docket to tie their fingers. They’re advancing laws that may slam the door shut on Democrats’ means to defend corruption.
Simply this yr, Texas handed Home Bill 5115, which takes impact September 1. That regulation upgrades penalties for voter fraud from a slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor to a felony carrying as much as 20 years in jail.
Mendacity on a voter software, altering ballots, or forging signatures will now carry the identical weight as different severe felonies. For comparability, voter fraud in most states nonetheless leads to fines or probation.
Texas Republicans are elevating the stakes—sending a nationwide message that taking part in video games with the poll field gained’t be tolerated.
Democrats and their media allies argue that voter fraud is “uncommon.” The numbers inform a unique story. Since 2005, there have been greater than 1,400 confirmed instances of election fraud nationwide, in accordance with the Heritage Basis’s Election Fraud Database.
In Texas alone, Paxton’s workplace has prosecuted almost 100 instances since 2005, even with restricted authority. And people are simply the instances caught—what number of slip by when prosecutors refuse to behave?
The hassle to revive Paxton’s authority is greater than a Texas battle. It’s a part of a broader nationwide battle to make sure Democrats can’t disguise behind prosecutors who look the opposite method.
In Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin—states vital within the 2024 election—native officers have already proven they’re keen to let irregularities slide. Giving state attorneys basic the enamel to behave independently is the one method to implement accountability throughout partisan strains.
President Trump has constantly championed election integrity because the cornerstone of truthful democracy.
Democrats need weak legal guidelines, weak prosecutors, and weak enforcement. Republicans need the other—as a result of the integrity of American elections calls for it.
