Tarrant County Leaders Launch “Election Integrity Task Force”

Three of Tarrant County’s top elected leaders have announced a task force dedicated to investigating and punishing voter fraud.

Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, District Attorney Phil Sorrells, and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare announced the creation of the “Election Integrity Task Force” on Wednesday. According to Sheriff Waybourn, the task force will include existing resources and county personnel such as investigators and a prosecuting attorney.

“We want to ensure the good citizens of Tarrant County that we intend to pursue any complaint regarding election issues, whether it’s evidence or probable cause that a crime has been committed,” Sheriff Waybourn said. “Over the last several years, we have had complaints filed of election misconduct. There have been follow-ups on these complaints and some of them are still under review.”

Waybourn did not disclose how many complaints there have been, nor did he disclose details of the complaints that are currently still under review. During a press conference Wednesday, Waybourn pointed to a 2018 case when criminal charges were filed against a judge over election violations.

Prior to Sept. 2022, Waybourn said complaints were often directed to the office of Texas Attorney Ken Paxton. In late Sept. 2022, Texas’ highest criminal court confirmed Paxton needs permission from local prosecutors to pursue election cases.

This task force will help make filing complaints more efficient, according to Waybourn. Sorells said he also heard concerns over election integrity “throughout the campaign”, though he was unable to elaborate on specific incidents.

“We’re not concerned that elections have been invalid. What we want to ensure to the public is that our elections are secure,” Sorrells said.

Judge Tim O’Hare said a woman who was an election judge during early voting and voting in November met with him for about an hour Tuesday. O’Hare said she recalled feeling unsafe, pointing to an example of people not respecting the 100-feet space rule.

“I think every one of us here should all be in favor of fair, secure, honest elections. If this goes towards that, then I think it’s great,” O’Hare said.

Emily Eby French is a staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project. The non-profit works with voters across the state. During election season, some of the most common questions they get from voters include where to find their polling locations and information on registration.

Eby French said a task force of this kind is not necessary.

“Local prosecutors already have the power to investigate issues of voter fraud. There are very, very few issues of voter fraud,” she said. “The Secretary of State did an analysis of the 2020 election. In Tarrant County, they found 12 possible incidences out of 850,000 votes cast. That doesn’t move the needle on anything. It’s important to note, the state has already looked at those.”

She added, there are concerns a task force of this kind could result in voter intimidation.

“From talking to voters, thousands and thousands of voters across the state in every election since 2018, I can tell you when voters see more laws and they see things criminalized around voting, they get nervous. Even if they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do,” she said.

O’Hare addressed questions behind the evidence of voter fraud and voter intimidation.

“It’s like bank robbery. Is it okay to have one bank robbery, or two? Is it okay to have one kidnapping or two or three? So, there shouldn’t be any voter fraud. This will go a long towards deterring it,” he said.  “The idea that this is somehow voter intimidation, who would we be intimidating? People who are cheating? People that are committing crimes? Well, we want to intimidate that.”

Heider Garcia, elections administrator for Tarrant County, is not part of this task force. O’Hare said he “expects him [Garcia] to cooperate”, though he is not a member because the task force is focused on investigation and prosecution. Garcia told NBC 5, he did not have a comment on Wednesday.

To submit tips and leads, residents can contact the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office at 817-884-1213.