Did The Department Of Justice Indict Someone In Texas For Fraudulently Casting 1,700 Ballots?

Our weekly check-in with the Texas Truth-O-Meter.

By Ciara O'Rourke, PolitiFact; Madlin Mekelburg, Austin American-Statesman; radio story produced by Alexandra HartSeptember 23, 2020 12:28 pm,

From PolitiFact:

Attorney General William Barr made the case that voting by mail is “fraught with the risk of fraud and coercion.”

As an example of such problems, he pointed to a case in Texas.

“We indicted someone in Texas, 1,700 ballots collected from people who could vote, he made them out and voted for the person he wanted to,” Barr said in an interview on CNN on Sept. 2.

The U.S. Justice Department has already walked back this claim, but social media posts continue to echo the attorney general’s inaccurate statement.

One, from Sept. 17, attributes to Barr a paraphrased statement of what he actually said: “‘In Texas, we arrested one man who filled out 1,700 ballots. That’s what happens with mail-in ballots.’ – AG Barr.”

Hear how Barr’s claim scored in the audio player above, and read the full story at PolitiFact.

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