Texas – Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown, Marlena Jackson, Charlie Burns, and DeWayne Ward were arrested on charges in connection with an organized ballot harvesting scheme during the 2018 Democrat primary, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday.
A $25,000 bond has been set for each person charged.
Elections officials became suspicious after Shannon Brown won the primary in March of 2018 by 5 votes after a recount.
An unusual number of mail-in ballots were cast in the 2018 primary race for precinct 4 commissioner in Gregg County.
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According to Gregg County Elections Administrator Kathryn Nealy, 231 out of the 800 mail-in ballots that swung the election, bore the signatures of the five same people who helped voters with their ballots. Furthermore, 1/3 of the voters claimed they had a disability in order to qualify for absentee or mail-in voting.
The vote harvesting scheme worked and Brown actually won!
Under Texas election law, mail-in ballots are strictly reserved for people over the age of 65 or for those who are physically ill and cannot vote in-person.
To increase the pool of ballots needed to swing the race in Brown’s favor, the group targeted young, able-bodied voters to cast ballots by mail by fraudulently claiming the voters were “disabled,” in most cases without the voters’ knowledge or consent. – Ken Paxton said.
In total, the state filed 134 felony charges against the four defendants, including 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, and election fraud. Penalties for these offenses range from six months in state jail to 99 years in prison, Paxton’s office announced.
Here is the breakdown of charges via Longview News-Journal:
According to indictments in the case, Brown was charged with 23 felonies:
- Engaging in organized election fraud
- Seven counts of fraudulent use of mail ballot application enhanced
- Two counts of unlawful possession of ballot/ballot envelope enhanced
- Eight counts of election fraud enhanced
- Five counts of tampering with a governmental record with intent to harm or defraud
Burns was charged with eight felonies:
- Engaging in organized election fraud
- Fraudulent use of application for ballot by mail
- Five counts of possession of a ballot or carrier envelope enhanced
- Tampering with a governmental record with intent to harm or defraud
Jackson was charged with 97 felonies:
- Engaging in organized election fraud
- Illegal voting
- 31 counts of fraudulent use of mail ballot application enhanced
- Seven counts of unlawful possession of ballot/ballot envelope enhanced
- 31 counts of election fraud enhanced
- 26 counts of tampering with a governmental record with intent to harm or defraud
Ward was charged with six felonies:
- Engaging in organized election fraud
- Unlawful possession of ballot/ballot envelope without request of voter enhanced
- Four counts of unlawful possession of ballot/ballot envelope enhanced
Election fraud, particularly an organized mail ballot fraud scheme orchestrated by political operatives, is an affront to democracy and results in voter disenfranchisement and corruption at the highest level.https://t.co/LXdYZurYgj
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) September 24, 2020
This is the same ballot-harvesting scheme the Democrats will deploy in key battleground states in order to steal the election from Trump
