Election Fraud Overview Jonathan White Election Fraud Unit

Election Fraud Overview Jonathan White Election Fraud Unit, Section Chief Criminal Prosecution Division Views expressed are those of the presenters, do not constitute legal advice, and are not official opinions of the Office of the Texas Attorney General.

Agenda Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting New Laws SB 5 Reporting

Overview Election Fraud Unit

Election Fraud Unit Election Code § 273. 021 Authorizes the Attorney General to Prosecute Election Offenses: • Concurrent prosecution authority with local DA. • We will also work with your DA to assist them with resources they don’t have. • We can prosecute cases in adjoining counties • We can prosecute case in adjoining county under § 273. 024. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Election Fraud Unit 4 Criminal Prosecutions 4 Criminal Investigations 1. AAG Jonathan White 2. AAG Tom Smith 1. 2. 3. 4. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Lt. Wayne Rubio Sgt. Mark Richardson Sgt. Stan Roper Sgt. John Waits Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Common Election Prosecutions SO, WHAT DO WE DO? Overview Mail Ballot Vote Harvesting Illegal Voting SB 5 Contact Us

Election Investigations and Prosecutions RECEIVE: referrals from DA, Elections Officials, and the SOS for investigation REVIEW/ANALYZE: election records--ABBMs, carrier envelopes, combination forms–and identify patterns INVESTIGATE: interview witnesses, voters/victims, and potential suspects EVALUATE: determine if elements of offense are established PROSECUTE: DA or AG can prosecute, or implement educational diversion program Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Common Election Prosecutions WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO WE PROSECUTE? Overview Mail Ballot Vote Harvesting Illegal Voting SB 5 Contact Us

Common Election Prosecutions 103 Election Offenses Overview Mail Ballot Vote Harvesting Illegal Voting SB 5 Contact Us

Common Election Prosecutions HOW ABOUT THE MOST COMMON OFFENSES? Overview Mail Ballot Vote Harvesting Illegal Voting SB 5 Contact Us

Common Election Prosecutions VOTE HARVESTING ASSISTANCE FRAUD ILLEGAL VOTING EVERYTHING ELSE Overview Mail Ballot Vote Harvesting Illegal Voting SB 5 Contact Us

Vote Harvesting or Mail Ballot Fraud

Vote Harvesting Vote harvesting generally consists of two phases: seeding and harvesting Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Vote Harvesting Campaign workers generate mail ballots and collect votes for their candidate/slate of candidates, by any means necessary. Vote harvesting generally consists of two phases: seeding and harvesting Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Vote Harvesting Vote harvesting generally consists of two phases: seeding and harvesting ABBMs are proliferated by any means possible to create a pool of ballots that can be harvested from vulnerable targets, often elderly or disabled voters. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Vote Harvesting Vote harvesting generally consists of two phases: seeding and harvesting Paid operatives go out during the early voting period and fill out and collect mail ballots from voters, ensuring votes are cast for certain candidates. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Vote Harvesting Where does Harvesting occur? • No geographical limitations • Primary targets: locals, primaries, special districts Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Seeding: Application Fraud Application for Ballot by Mail (ABBM) Fraud Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Seeding: Application Fraud Same Handwriting Forged Signature Pre-Filled SOS Applications “Professional” Assistants Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Eligibility Fraud ABBM Batches from One Source Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Seeding: Application Fraud v Multiple ABBMs from same source (fax batches or mailings with multiple applications) I O WHAT TO DO: q X Preserve Box/Envelope X Scan/save a copy of original q batch of ABBMs X Contact DA & OAG and offer q copy of batch X Process ABBMs normally q D T A H W Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud ? ? O D Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Harvesting: Mail Ballot Fraud Ballot/Carrier Envelope Fraud Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Harvesting: Mail Ballot Fraud Unlawfully possessing a ballot or carrier envelope of a voter Election Code § 86. 006 Loophole that allowed collection of ballots by harvesters to “mail” them for any/all voters NOW CLOSED. If you assist an eligible voter with a mail ballot, you have to provide identifying information. Election Code § Overview 86. 010 Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Organized Vote Harvesting Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Organized Vote Harvesting Engaging in Organized Election Fraud: Three or more people who work together to commit voter fraud. Election Code § Overview 276. 011 Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Assistance Fraud

Assistance Fraud Unlawful assistance: (1) helping a voter who isn’t eligible or didn’t ask for help (2) votes differently than the voter wants/directs (3) suggests how the voter should vote Election Code § Overview 64. 036 Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Assistance Fraud How it works: Voter selected by paid campaign worker (harvester) Voter transported to polling place by paid campaign worker TRANSPORTED TARGETED Voter given a slate of candidates to vote for INSTRUCTED Voter approached by “assistant” to cast votes for paying candidates ASSISTED Unlawful assistance: (1) helping a voter who isn’t eligible or didn’t ask for help (2) votes differently than the voter wants (3) suggests how the voter should vote Election Code § Overview 64. 036 Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Illegal Voting

Illegal Voting Ineligible Voter Overview Vote Harvesting Votes More than Once Assistance Fraud Stolen Identity Illegal Voting Votes Another’s Ballot Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Illegal Voting 1 2 3 4 votes or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the person is not eligible to vote knowingly votes or attempts to vote more than once in an election knowingly votes or attempts to vote a ballot belonging to another person, or by impersonating another person knowingly marks or attempts to mark any portion of another person's ballot without the consent of that person, or without specific direction from that person how to mark the ballot Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

New Law: Election Fraud Catch-all Provision

Election Fraud Catch-all Provision Election Fraud: (1) influencing a voter during voting process; (2) causing a voter to register, obtain a ballot or vote under false pretenses; or (3) intentionally misleading an election official or making a false statement on official election materials Election Code § Overview 276. 013 Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting Requirements for Mail Ballots

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: Which election/s does this apply to? Should we assume this applies all elections going forward? A: The law applies to any/all elections after December 1, 2017. The good news, though, is that the reporting requirements are very narrow, and many, if not most, counties will have little, to nothing, to report. The system is designed also to accept the general categories of elections – Primary, local, general, special – and if you have multiple entity or special district elections, feel free to combine them in one report. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: Sounds like we have to report all rejected and cancelled ballots, right? A: NO. Only ballots rejected or cancelled for the VERY SPECIFIC listed reasons. We’re looking only for items very likely to indicate fraud. Ordinary, non-fraudulent rejections and cancellations do not need to be reported. If you have nothing to report, there is an option on the portal to certify that there is nothing to report for an election. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: What needs to be reported for canceled ballots? A: Mail ballots canceled because: 1. The voter never received a ballot (because that may indicate a ballot was diverted); or 2. The voter never requested a ballot (because the voter may have been signed up fraudulently) Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: What needs to be reported for rejected ballots? A: Mail ballots rejected because: 1. Voter deceased prior to voting; 2. Voter already voted in person (double voting); 3. Signature not the signature of the voter (indicating forgery); 4. No witness signature when voter made their mark (indicating failure by witness to comply with reporting requirement); and 5. Witness/assistant certificate improperly executed (indicating a witness or assistant did not comply with reporting requirement). Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: For cancelled ballots, it says to report cancellations submitted for two reasons: if the voter never requested a ballot, or a voter never received a ballot—but most of my cancellations are not for those reasons! A: If the voter did not cancel by affidavit, listing one of those two reasons, you don’t need to report it. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: Most of my rejected ballots are not rejected for non-matching signatures; they’re because the voter didn’t sign the carrier. A: You don’t need to report it. You only need to report the specific reasons listed in the email/statute. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: We have deceased voters, but we don’t reject ballots voted before the voter was deceased. A: Those are neither rejected ballots, nor fraudulent - don’t report them. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: I’ve registered multiple times and I can’t get a password to log in. What gives? A: There a couple moving parts involved: To be secure, we need to confirm the email address of the Head Election Official before approving a county’s account; Then, the Head Election Official has full control of the account going forward to add/remove Delegates at will. **Please bear with us, as we work to process initial setup Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

SB 5 Reporting – FAQs Q: Can I just reply to the mass email to get my questions answered? Or should I email Keith or the OAG and ask them what’s going on with my login? A: Email the helpline: Mail. In. Ballot. Reporting@oag. texas. gov. Overview Vote Harvesting Assistance Fraud Illegal Voting Voter Fraud SB 5 Reporting

Contact Us

Contact Us Questions on Mail Ballot Reporting Requirements: Mail. In. Ballot. Reporting@oag. texas. gov

Contact Us Report Potential Election Fraud/Violations to: Lt. Wayne Rubio Criminal Investigation Division 512 -475 -3411 Wayne. Rubio@oag. texas. gov For Election Officials only – citizen complaints should go to SOS.