Voters file criminal complaint against Texas AG Ken Paxton over mail-in voting threats

Two voting rights advocates have filed a complaint with the Dallas County district attorney, alleging Attorney General Ken Paxton committed voter fraud in each of the state’s 254 counties by contradicting a judge's order expanding the availability of mail-in voting during the pandemic.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton’s letter intentionally misled Texas elections officials about eligibility to vote by mail,” said Kendall Scudder, one of the complainants. “Mail-in ballots aren’t where the election fraud is happening, it’s happening in the office of our indicted attorney general.”

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Travis County District Judge Tim Sulak on April 17 issued a temporary injunction stating that any voter concerned about exposure to the coronavirus can avoid in-person voting and request a mail-in ballot by claiming a disability.

Paxton, a Republican who has argued disability claims should be reserved only for those who currently fall under that category, wrote in a filing that same day that Sulak’s order was automatically stayed when he filed an appeal.

Further, Paxton threatened to criminally prosecute local elections officials who use Sulak’s order to justify an expansion of mail-in voting. Paxton himself is under criminal indictment for securities fraud and has been awaiting a trial for almost five years; he was re-elected in November 2018.

“This complaint is an outrageous effort by those who would mislead the public about Texas voting law in order to advance their own political agenda,” said Marc Rylander, spokesman for the AG. “In fulfilling its responsibility under the Constitution and laws of Texas, the Office of Attorney General will continue to safeguard the integrity of Texas elections by providing clear guidance to election officials and the public about the textually correct meaning of Texas election law.”

Two attorneys reached by Hearst Newspapers agreed with Paxton’s assessment that the April 17 order was stayed when Paxton appealed.

Any appeal of an order that grants a temporary injunction or denies a plea to the jurisdiction, both of which occurred in this case, places an immediate stay on that order, said Dallas appellate lawyer Chad Ruback. On top of that, the Attorney General’s office noted in its appeal that governmental entities are entitled to automatic stays in this situation, under Texas law.

In the Dallas County case, complainants Scudder and Woot Lervisit, who live and vote in the county, say that under the Texas election code, their complaint should trigger a criminal investigation of Paxton’s conduct.

Scudder was a nominee for the Texas Senate in District 2 in 2018 and serves on the State Democratic Executive Committee. Lervisit, a Dallas attorney, is CEO of Our Ballot Institute, a non-partisan nonprofit organization created during the pandemic to promote voter participation and educate Americans about voting.

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Texas is one of the few states where voters younger than 65 must have an excuse to cast a ballot by mail. In 2018, fewer than 7 percent of Texas voters mailed in their ballots.

Voting-related lawsuits launched by Democrats and civic organizations have been ramping up in the months leading to the general election. The suits had been multiplying quickly even before the pandemic, as Democrats press to reverse voting restrictions established by Republicans who say they are concerned about voter fraud.