Three Top Texas Republicans Leading Charge Against Mail-In Voting Have All Voted By Mail In The Past
Three top Texas Republicans who have been leading the charge against expanding mail-in voting in the state have all voted by mail at least once in past elections, a new report finds.
As The Texas Tribune reported, three of the state’s top GOP officials have been vocally opposed to expanding this form of voting, even as other states look to give voters more options for the November election that would keep them away from polls amid what could be a second wave of the coronavirus.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton have all come out in opposition to efforts to expand mail-in voting, but the report noted that all used mail-in ballots at some point in the past. Patrick voted by mail in 2007 for a Houston municipal election, Paxton in a 2011 municipal election, and Abbott in a 1997 special election.
The Texas Tribune added that Paxton’s office has launched legal efforts to fight the expansion of mail-in voting, winning a court battle that would limit the number of voters who qualify to vote by mail. Patrick has also called these moves a “scam by Democrats to steal the election,” echoing the claims from President Donald Trump in opposition to voting by mail.
A number of others who have followed Trump in attacking attempts to expand mail-in voting have also made use of this form of voting in the past. As The Inquisitr previously wrote, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has voted by mail from her home district in Florida, all while using White House press briefings to forward the president’s claims that this form of voting is a major target for fraud.
McEnany told the Tampa Bay Times that her past use of mail-in ballots was proper as she was away from the district.
“Absentee voting has the word absent in it for a reason,” she said.
“It means you’re absent from the jurisdiction or unable to vote in person. President Trump is against the Democrat plan to politicize the coronavirus and expand mass mail-in voting without a reason, which has a high propensity for voter fraud. This is a simple distinction that the media fails to grasp.”
Trump has also used mail-in voting for the Florida Republican primary earlier this year. He has not offered evidence to support the claim that this method is connected with fraud, and a tweet claiming as such was flagged by Twitter with the site’s first-ever fact check, offering readers facts about mail-in voting that contradicted the president’s claims.
