At least two races were won through voter fraud in one of Texas’ largest – and most Republican – counties. This was among the findings announced by the organization responsible for exposing what is allegedly the largest voter fraud operation in Texas history.

In a presentation to a local 912 group in Fort Worth, Aaron Harris of Direct Action Texas presented documents from his formal voter-fraud complaint filed with the Secretary of State. The secretary of state has referred to the voter fraud evidence as “voluminous.”

Harris says his complaint contained over 1,500 pages of documents. And while the complete document is not yet public, Harris made one thing clear—political operatives inside Tarrant County have illegally forged thousands of signatures on ballot-by-mail applications and carrier envelopes over the last four years.

Harris says he is confident at least two local officials are in office as a result of the voter fraud he has uncovered – State Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. (D–Fort Worth) and Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Espino.

Espino won his race by a twenty-six vote margin in an election in which Harris says 450 votes were fraudulently harvested in that district alone. Romero won his seat by a 110 vote margin in a race that was similarly impacted by voter fraud.

Harris says the harvesting operatives usually push a slate of candidates to affect multiple races each cycle. The voters are either influenced, or have their votes stolen by the harvester.

The operatives work “turfs” – neighborhoods where they’ve built strong relationships and trust with voters. Familiarity with the voters helps the operative more effectively carry out their scheme, Harris said. Many of the voters are elderly, speak English as a second language, and live in predominantly low-income communities.

Harris’ presentation showed ballot-by-mail applications with identical handwriting, and voters’ signatures that do not appear to match that of the carrier envelope containing the ballot. This suggests a harvesting operative – with or without the voter’s knowledge – submitted the application. Harris says thousands were likely mailed without voter’s permission.

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The forms are submitted strategically, so the harvesters know when the ballot will arrive in the mail. Harris tracked the non-random pattern of applications and saw how harvesters would literally sweep through neighborhoods over time.

Even worse, Harris alleges the harvesters regularly use the same applications over multiple election cycles. They simply fax in copies of old forms. There’s also evidence that digital signatures are being used on carrier envelopes – in place of the voter’s written signature – allowing the harvesters to directly cast a ballot on behalf of the voter.

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The fraud is so blatant that even an untrained observer would call into question the legitimacy of the signatures. Many of the documents should have been red-flagged by Tarrant County election officials or the ballot board, a volunteer group that is charged with ensuring the ballot signatures match the signatures on the carrier envelopes.

Harris says there are three primary problems that enable this fraud – the election code is weak, the ballot-by-mail process has insufficient safeguards, and “no one” is watching.

He’s right about a lack of oversight. Texas Scorecard was the first publication to cover troubling admissions made by Tarrant County Election’s administrator, Frank Phillips.

Phillips stated during a public meeting that – due to the large volume of ballot-by-mail applications submitted every election – there is no way his office can properly ensure that suspicious forms are flagged or that the law is followed.

For example, a person is only legally allowed to sign as a witness on one person’s ballot by mail application. Phillips has said his office has no process in place to ensure that a person is not signing as a witness on multiple ballots.

Furthermore, Phillips said his office is “not the police,” and is not responsible for reporting suspicious activity to a higher authority unless it’s “overt and obvious.” He said that’s the job of the Attorney General. Shockingly, he claims his office simply “processes” the forms as quickly as they are received without inspecting them for their validity.

The evidence of voter fraud uncovered by Harris and Direct Action Texas is deeply troubling. Texans must demand that our lawmakers reform the ballot-by-mail process in order to secure our elections. And those who have engaged in voter fraud must be held accountable.

You can see the full presentation on the Empower Texans Facebook page.

Ross Kecseg

Ross Kecseg was the president of Texas Scorecard. He passed away in 2020. A native North Texan, he was raised in Denton County. Ross studied Economics at Arizona State University with an emphasis on Public Policy and U.S. Constitutional history. Ross was an avid golfer, automotive enthusiast, and movie/music junkie. He was a loving husband and father.

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