A southeast Texas woman pleaded guilty to more than two dozen felony counts of voter fraud last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton revealed on Friday.
Monica Mendez of Port Lavaca, Texas, pled guilty to 26 felony counts of election fraud: “three counts of illegal voting, eight counts of election fraud, seven counts of assisting a voter to submit a ballot by mail, and eight counts of unlawful possession of a mail ballot,” according to Paxton’s press release.
The charges against Mendez stem from a vote-harvesting operation she orchestrated on behalf of a subsidized housing corporation to sway the outcome of a 2018 utility board election in Victoria County.
Her actions included “knowingly fraudulently filling out the ballots” for three voters and also “knowingly failing to sign oaths” revealing that she had assisted seven others.
District Judge Eli Garza sentenced Mendez to five years of deferred adjudication probation after she entered a guilty plea on all counts and acknowledged in court that all counts could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Voter fraud is real, and it’s a real threat,” tweeted Paxton. “That’s why I have a whole Unit devoted to stopping it. My office’s commitment to election integrity ensures Texas has the safest elections in the country.”
Attorney General Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit investigated and prosecuted the case in collaboration with the Victoria County District Attorney’s Office.
