Abbott Says He Has Phantom Voter Proof
that Could Be Seed for New Restrictions
Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
November 16, 2020
Governor Greg Abbott claimed this weekend to have evidence of illegal voting in battleground states even though he acknowledged that it wouldn't be enough to overturn the 2020 presidential election that Democrat Joe Biden won this month.
But the governor's assertions on phantom Biden voters could give GOP leaders and legislators fresh fodder for a push in Austin next year for further restrictions on voting in Texas under the banner of election security.
"What we have seen are verified facts that votes have been cast for dead people," Abbott said in an interview on Friday with the ABC affiliate in Houston. "Votes have been cast by people who are not authorized to vote. I haven't seen numbers yet adding it up to being a difference-maker in the presidential race, but they're just beginning to uncover some of the votes that were cast illegally."
Abbott and the other Republicans at the state Capitol may feel emboldened after holding off a bid by the Democrats for a state House majority on a battlefield where the ruling party dueled its rivals to a draw with both sides each winning and losing one seat.
But the general election's results could be a double-edge sword for the Republicans here with any attempts to tighten restrictions on voting in Texas subject to scrutiny by a federal Justice Department that Biden will control.
Abbott hasn't been as gung-ho as Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on the subject of corruption at the ballot box this fall. Patrick created a $1 million bounty fund last week in an attempt to flush informants and tipsters out with evidence of voter fraud that Trump and his allies claim to have been rampant but have failed to produce up to now.
Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West - a former Florida congressman who's blasted Abbott repeatedly for coronavirus restrictions - has demanded investigations into allegations of poll watcher shenanigans in major cities like Dallas and Fort Worth.
more to come ... |