The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 8-1 in December that Attorney General Ken Paxton lacked the authority to independently prosecute voter fraud.
FBI officials learned Jefferson County sheriff Zena Collins Stephens had potentially violated campaign-finance laws, which led to Paxton prosecuting and charging her with two counts of unlawfully making or accepting a campaign contribution and one count of tampering with a governmental record.
While the court stated Paxton has the authority to prosecute some cases involving state Medicaid fraud, even then, he would need consent from an attorney at the local or county level.
“The attorney general has the responsibility to prosecute election fraud cases," gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines told the Lone Star Standard. "Leaders do the right thing, no matter what other people say.”
Paxton, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have since asked the court to reverse its decision. Though Paxton has filed a motion for a rehearing, the court has not responded to the pressure from GOP officials.
“When I am governor, I will reform and clean up our elections in Texas to stop the rampant fraud — and I’m not asking permission from the activist courts,” Huffines said.
According to the Texas Scorecard, courts of appeals typically grant re-hearings to between 5% and 15% of those requested.
The Heritage Foundation's Election Integrity Scorecard ranked Texas sixth in election integrity. Texas received 76 points out of a possible 100, scored on metrics such as the accuracy of voter rolls, absentee ballot management, citizenship verification, and vote-counting practices.
Abbott, elected in 2014, is serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before winning the election for the top executive post, Abbott was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
