This week, we talk about two different things going on with election integrity that seem to have risen to the top: policy and political drama that is plaguing weak GOP elites.

First, we have Donald Trump calling on Greg Abbott to audit the 2020 elections in Texas, a move that has been requested by election integrity experts across the nation. Abbott has not only refused to do so, but he I s also playing games with his office of the Secretary of state. His actions were called out on Fox News last Sunday, and we discuss the implications of Abbott dragging his feet on this issue.

Secondarily, we come to the fact that the Legislature decided that part of their election integrity plan should include reducing the criminal penalty for illegally voting. After the bill was praised by Greg Abbott and signed into law, Dan Patrick and others realized that Dade Phelan, the Democrats in the Texas House, and Dade’s GOP loyalists merely made it a misdemeanor to vote illegally. Previously, illegal voting had been a felony.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation seemed to imply that this was an error, but Dade Phelan’s subsequent actions seem to have confirmed that it was intentional.

Now, we have Dan Patrick prioritizing legislation to correct this problem, Dade Phelan publicly opposing efforts to do so, and Abbott doing nothing other than quietly adding it to the special session agenda.

Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi has called for this priority to be on every special session moving forward until the Texas House is forced to deal with it.

This issue won’t go away, and we feel like every Texan should be aware of its implications. I hope you enjoy today’s episode.