Tarrant County Republican leaders form election-fraud unit

Three Tarrant County leaders announced the formation of a new unit dedicated to investigating and prosecuting allegations of election fraud on Wednesday, even though complaints of fraud in the most recent elections held in the county have not been substantiated.

The new unit was born from a partnership between three Republicans — Sheriff Bill Waybourn, County Judge Tim O’Hare and District Attorney Phil Sorrells — though Waybourn insisted the law would be applied in a nonpartisan manner.

“We’re going to do the right thing every time,” Waybourn said. “And this is not a Democrat or Republican thing, it is making sure all the good citizens are served well in Tarrant County.”

But local Democrats described the formation of the unit as a “stunt” meant to suppress votes from progressives and people of color.

“Just like Republicans nationally have done, they are seeking to create an atmosphere of distrust and create the illusion that voting is a privilege rather than a right,” county Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Campolo said in a written statement, calling the unit an attempt “to prepare to explain future Republican losses.”

In a Facebook post following the announcement, Tarrant County GOP Chairman Rick Barnes said “When you put great conservatives in office, great things can come from it.”

The formation of the task force comes as Republicans across the state — and country — continue to foment doubt about the security and sanctity of elections following Donald Trump’s 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for Harris County to redo its November 2022 election based on unsubstantiated claims that voters were turned away because of a ballot shortage, the Houston Chronicle reported.

In Arizona, a similar election-integrity unit found few cases of fraud — 20 cases prosecuted over three years in a state of 4 million voters — but also served to sow deep distrust among voters who doubted the legitimacy of Biden’s win in 2020, a Washington Post review found.

Though a few isolated cases of alleged fraud — such as felons casting votes even though their rights have not been restored and people casting ballots for recently deceased relatives — have been reported, elections nationwide, including in Tarrant County, have consistently been found to have been fair and secure.

A report released by the Texas Secretary of State in December declared that Tarrant County “administers a quality, transparent election.”

Heider Garcia, the elections administrator in Tarrant County who faced a deluge of threats stemming from baseless accusations of voter fraud during the 2020 election, was not involved in the creation of the task force, though O’Hare, the county judge, said he “fully expect[s] him to cooperate with it.” Garcia and a spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The unit is intended to serve as a centralized hub for people with concerns about election processes to file complaints for investigators to review, Waybourn said. The unit would be staffed by investigators in already existing units who would add the new duties to their workload, he said. Waybourn said he didn’t have an immediate figure on how many investigators would be assigned to the unit.

O’Hare said the unit would not have an effect on the county budget. He said he heard concerns from people “all across the county” about election fraud during his 18-month campaign for the position, adding he thinks “we owe it to our citizens to make sure that they know their vote counts, and that the election[s] are secure and that they are fair.”

Neither O’Hare nor Sorrells, the district attorney, were able to say how many complaints the county has received about the 2022 or 2020 elections. In 2018, a Tarrant County justice pleaded guilty to tampering with a government document, admitting he forged more than 100 signatures on his own nominating petition. Russ Casey stepped down from his position and was sentenced to five years of probation.

But in the last two elections, no allegations of fraud have been substantiated, the county officials said. Four cases remain open with the district attorney’s office, but Sorrells and Waybourn did not discuss what the cases entailed, citing the pending investigations.

O’Hare said the task force should serve as an encouragement for voters to turn out.

But Ashley Harris, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said it will do the opposite.

“This so-called election integrity unit is just political posturing meant to sow confusion among voters and criminalize voting,” Harris said. “I think Tarrant County would be better served focusing its resources on making elections more accessible to voters and providing open lines to voters to help with any problems they may face, but this so called election integrity unit is not going to accomplish that.”

Residents can submit tips or leads to the unit by calling 817-884-1213.