A confessed Carrollton vote fraudster lost both his latest campaign for public office and a final appeal of lower court decisions against him.
Zul Mohamed finished dead last in last week’s Texas U.S. Senate race, receiving just 186 votes as a write-in candidate on the November 3 ballot.
On November 5, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused the 45-year-old Mohamed’s petition for discretionary review of issues raised by the defense during his six-year-long voter fraud case.
Prosecutors showed Mohamed schemed to illegally request and receive other people’s mail-in ballots in order to cast fraudulent votes for himself in his failed 2020 campaign for Carrollton mayor.
Four years after his arrest, Mohamed pleaded guilty in December 2024 to more than 100 voter fraud felonies.
Mohamed was sentenced to four years in prison and 10 years of probation, but he remained free on bond pending an appeal.
Mohamed’s attorney argued that his client suffers from delusional disorder and should not be imprisoned, yet he challenged the court’s conditions of probation that barred Mohamed from engaging in election-related activities.
He also questioned the sting operation authorities used to trace the mail-ballot fraud scheme back to Mohamed, who had rented a commercial mail box using a fake name and false identification and was caught with a box of fraudulently-obtained ballots in his parents’ home.
In May 2026, while still out on bond and awaiting an appeal hearing, Mohamed made a second failed run for Carrollton mayor, which he was legally allowed to do as he was not finally convicted of a felony while an appeal was pending.
He then announced plans to run for the U.S. Senate in November.
Later in May, the 7th Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment against Mohamed. He then submitted his case to the Court of Criminal Appeals for review, allowing him to remain free and continue campaigning for public office.
Denton County felony prosecutor Jesse Davis had filed motions to reset Mohamed’s bond conditions and then to revoke his bond altogether, but 462nd District Judge Lee Ann Breading declined.
Mohamed is also facing six counts of impersonating a public servant, a third-degree felony.
The charges stem from fake jury duty notices sent to dozens of Denton County residents for the first day of Mohamed’s 2024 voter fraud trial. Authorities traced the notices back to Mohamed.
That case is tentatively set for a jury trial on December 7 before Judge Breading. Mohamed remains free on bond.
