DALLAS, TX (April 19, 2017) KVUE – A political group in North Texas is taking notice and investigating complaints of residents receiving mail-in ballots they claim they never requested.
Direct Action Texas (DAT) recently filed a criminal complaint against Dallas County with the Texas Secretary of State’s office. The concern is centered around mail-in ballot irregularities possibly linked to vote harvesting.
“You need to really think about what you are doing, because we are going to expose it,” said Aaron Harris, the executive director of DAT.
Harris said the locally-focused conservative political organization was already investigating vote harvesting in Dallas County when it heard about a mail-in ballot received by Alice Washington in West Dallas. The 81-year-old woman and her family said she never applied for a mail-in ballot. It was after requesting a copy of the application from the Dallas County Elections office they uncovered the problem.
“Somebody forged her signature,” said Washington’s niece, Barbara Roberson.
Dallas County Elections administrators said the office received nearly 40 similar complaints.
Harris said Direct Action Texas has also been investigating questionable vote harvesting operations in Tarrant, Harrison, and Hill counties.
“They’re preying on the elderly,” Harris explained. “Mostly low-income elderly people, if you are African-American or Hispanic. They prey upon a lot of people where English is a second language and not real sure exactly what’s going on.”
Direct Action Texas said its criminal complaint has been forwarded to the Texas Attorney General’s office. For now, the group is encouraging all voters to be vigilant. Just as alert as Washington’s family.
”I love that,” Harris said. “I love that the citizens are standing up and doing this. That’s what we need more of.”
Direct Action Texas is also sending a strong warning to anyone in the business of vote harvesting.
“If you are doing this, the odds of you getting a complaint against you in the near future are very high…and we’re not going to stop,” Harris advised.
Last week, Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole said her office is taking the complaints seriously. Her office has not yet responded to request for comment about the complaint filed against Dallas County.
A joint investigation into local complaints has been launched between Dallas County Elections and the district attorney’s offices.
