[TYLERPAPER] A South Texas woman was arrested by the Texas Attorney General’s Office Wednesday on 26 counts of violating state election laws.Monica Rene Mendez, 36, of Port Lavaca, was charged with three counts of illegal voting, seven counts of unlawful voter assistance, eight counts of returning marked ballots without consent and eight counts of election fraud, according to jail records.
Further details, including the jurisdiction, timing or specific nature of the alleged violations, as well as the number of ballots potentially affected, remained unclear Thursday.
As of Thursday morning, Mendez remained in jug at the Victoria County jail, where she is being held on $1,000 bond.
Chief Deputy Will Franklin of the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office referred questions about the charges to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which did not immediately respond to an interview request Thursday morning.
Victoria County Elections Administrator Margetta Hill said she was not aware of any violations that had occurred locally during this past November’s election or the May 1 elections this year. Local officials and the Attorney General’s office would typically communicate in the event of any election integrity issues, Hill said.
"They would notify me, and I would notify them if I was having a problem also," Hill said.
Over 500 Election Fraud Cases Are Pending in Texas Courts: Attorney General
[EpochTimes] Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said over the weekend that his office still has more than 500 election fraud cases that need to be heard in court.The attorney general made the announcement after a woman was arrested by the state Election Fraud Unit late last week for multiple counts of election fraud, according to a statement from his office.
"We will prosecute voter fraud every time we find it," Paxton, a Republican, wrote on Twitter over the weekend in reference to the case. "Currently, our office has over 500 cases waiting to be heard in court."
While Paxton didn’t provide any more information about the cases, he said that "voter fraud is real" and that "Texans deserve to know their vote is legally and securely counted."
According to the release from his office, which provided scant details about the case, Monica Mendez was arrested and booked into the Victoria County Jail on June 23. It came after a grand jury returned an indictment on seven counts of illegal voting, eight counts of unlawfully assisting a voter, eight counts of unlawful possession of ballots, and eight counts of election fraud.
Her case, however, wasn’t related to the 2020 election, the release said, but to a 2018 local election. The Texas secretary of state referred Mendez to the attorney general’s office.
Referring to the Mendez case, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
... governor of Texas. Abbott is a Republican. His 2014 Dem opponent, state senatrix Wendy Davis, thought the absolute, most pressing, most important issue facing the state was abortion. Abbott beat the pantyhose off her. His 2018 opponent, Lupe Valdez didn't dwell too heavily on abortion, but she lost too...suggested that his office would continue to pursue laws that are designed to bolster security around elections. The governor several days ago announced a special session of the state legislature to pass a number of measures relating to voter fraud laws, critical race theory, and how the state handles bail bonds.
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