Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation applauded the addition of legislation to increase penalties for voter fraud to the call of the third legislative special session. TPPF‘s CEO Kevin Roberts released the following statement:
“The passage of vitally needed election integrity legislation, SB 1 made Texas’s elections more secure. But in an effort to add clarity to election fraud offenses committed by bad actors who attempt to subvert Texas’s elections—people who trick voters into giving up their sacred ballot or who vote twice or more or in a different state in the same election—criminal penalties were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. This move reduces the deterrent value of the new law. We urge the Texas Legislature to address this weakness in an otherwise excellent law that ensures free and fair elections in the Lone Star State.”