Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Saturday that his office has found evidence of “a large number of election frauds” involving mail ballots and court applause rejecting expanded access to mail-order voting during the pandemic of coronavirus.
Paxton, a Republican, said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” that the Republican-controlled state Legislature has the right to avoid universal mail ballots.
SUPREME COURT APPLIES WITH TEXAS GOP OFFICERS ON MAIL TICKETS, TRUMP CALLS IT A “GREAT VICTORY”
“In Texas, the Legislature has tried to balance this idea of whether people are out of town or unable to vote, we allow them to vote. But we also know that there is a risk, an increased risk of voter fraud, with these ballots sent by mail. So they have limited it, “he said.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld a lower court order blocking a request by state Democratic leaders to expand the mail option, at least while the case is being litigated.
President Trump welcomed the decision.
“Great Texas Mail Ballot Victory!” he tweeted.
Voting by mail in Texas is generally limited to people age 65 and older or those with a “physical condition or illness” that prevents voting in person. The Texas Republican Party has argued that fear of contracting the virus does not qualify as a disability under the law.
The fight in Texas is one of several across the country to expand access to mail ballots amid the pandemic. The second-round primary elections in Texas are scheduled for July 14.
“Fox & Friends” presenter Jedediah Bila asked Paxton to respond to critics who say the claim for further fraud is false.
“Well, obviously they haven’t been investigating fraud in my state,” Paxton replied. “Because we have a team of lawyers and investigators [whose] the only job is to investigate electoral fraud. “
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
“Two-thirds of our cases in the last decade have been about mail-in ballots. Therefore, we know for sure that mail-order election fraud occurs every day.
“And then we are dealing with that. We are processing it. If we really had more resources, we would be processing more,” he said.
“There is a lot of electoral fraud,” added Paxton.
Bill Mears, Alex Pappas, and The Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.
