Fact Check: Among The Rare Cases Of Voter Fraud In Texas, Mail-In Ballot Fraud Is Most Common

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

By Brandon Mulder, PolitiFact/Austin American-Statesman; radio story produced by Alexandra HartAugust 11, 2021 10:00 am,

From PolitiFact Texas:

On July 29, three of the 57 quorum-busting Democrats of the Texas House testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, a continuation of their efforts to push Congress to pass federal protections for voting rights.

For nearly four hours, state Reps. Senfronia Thompson of Houston, Nicole Collier of Fort Worth and Diego Bernal of San Antonio were praised by some members of the subcommittee for taking a stand against Republicans’ voting legislation, and grilled by others.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Hays County, was among those doing the grilling. Roy isn’t a member of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, but had received permission to attend the hearing and ask questions.

“Great to see my colleagues from Texas, although I wish it were under slightly different circumstances. Obviously, I think that you guys should be in Austin, Texas, performing those duties,” Roy said.

He then proceeded to quiz the trio of state legislators on a variety of voting law specifics, asking them to answer in a yes or no fashion. One of those questions centered on the past remarks of one of their colleagues, state Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas.

“In 2007, your colleague, who also happens to be here in D.C., Rafael Anchía said, ‘Vote by mail that we know is the greatest source of voter fraud in this state.’ Do you agree with Rep. Anchía, yes or no?” Roy asked.

Bernal threw up his hands. “I have nothing to base the fact that the greatest source of voter fraud is by mail,” he said.

Read the full story and see how Chip Roy’s claim rated at PolitiFact. And listen to an interview with PolitiFact’s Brandon Mulder in the audio player above.

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