Texas voters could soon see the state's top law enforcement officer regain the power to independently prosecute election fraud under new legislation filed this week
House Joint Resolution 1 and House Bill 11, both authored by Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, would regrant the Texas Attorney General the power to independently prosecute election fraud — authority the office lost in 2021 when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals struck it down after more than 70 years.
"It is time to return this power that was stripped in a court decision," Shaheen said in a statement on Thursday.
A near identical version of the proposal, Senate Bill 11, was preliminarily approved by the Texas Senate on Wednesday. Both HJR 1 and HB 11 have been referred to the House Committee on State Affairs.
Under current law, AG Ken Paxton doesn't have independent authority to prosecute election fraud cases, unless a local prosecutor requests help. The case stemmed from Paxton's office prosecuting a southeast Texas sheriff for alleged voter fraud after the 2016 election, but the local DA declined to pursue charges. The sheriff challenged the AG's authority and the court ruled in his favor.
Paxton didn't immediately respond to request for comment on Thursday, but earlier this week, he called on the Texas House to pass "strong election integrity legislation" that would allow his office to step in when "rogue district and county attorneys" decline to prosecute voter fraud.
This follows the passage of House Bill 5115 during the regular legislative session earlier this year. Starting Sept. 1, the new law will raise the penalty for voter fraud, including providing false information or altering a ballot, from a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail to a felony that could carry up to 20 years in prison.
Restoring the AG's power to pursue election crimes is one of Gov. Greg Abbott's priorities for the special session, which is set to end August 19.
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