Texas House Republicans put forth a bill for a forensic audit of the 2020 election results in large counties that largely went for President Joe Biden on the same day Democratic lawmakers fled the state.
The legislation, filed last week by state Rep. Steve Toth, could have Texas follow Arizona’s GOP-led Senate’s lead in conducting a partisan inspection of election machines and materials that has prompted criticism from Democrats and state officials who say there is no evidence backing former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread fraud.
The audit would target counties with populations of more than 415,000 people and calls on the governor, lieutenant governor, and House speaker to appoint an “independent third party” to conduct the review between Nov. 1, 2021, and Feb. 1, 2022.
A report is mandated to be delivered to Texas officials by March 1, 2022, “detailing any anomalies or discrepancies in voter data, ballot data, or tabulation,” according to the bill.
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The legislation, co-authored by more than a dozen Republicans, was introduced on July 12, the same day many House Democrats fled the state to break quorum so the chamber would not be able to take up voting bills they oppose or any other legislation during a special session, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
State Rep. Chris Turner, chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said the audit legislation sounds like “it’s all based on the lie that there’s widespread voter fraud and Donald Trump really won the election,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
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Trump won the state of Texas and its 38 electoral votes with roughly 52% of the vote, defeating Biden even though the Democrat performed better in cities and the suburbs than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
Ten of the 13 counties that would be covered by the Texas audit, including Dallas and Tarrant counties, were won by Biden, including those that cover Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
“We need a forensic audit to uncover all the voter fraud,” Toth said in an online post on Monday. He said the bill, called the Texas Voter Confidence Act, is a product of meetings with constituents and “a direct request from the voters who sent me to Austin.”
