Abbott shuffles prisons’ funds to vote audit
Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican leaders of the Legislature are shifting $4 million from the state's prison system to fund audits of election results as former President Donald Trump has pressured them to do.
On Thursday, Abbott requested emergency funding from the Legislature, saying the secretary of state doesn't have the funding it needs to conduct election audits needed to assure the public they can trust results. Abbott said the funding will create a new Election Audits Division within the Secretary of State's Office.
Republican leaders of the House and Senate agreed to the request Friday, calling the lack of funding for the audits division an emergency. They moved the $4 million on Friday morning, and Abbott signed off on it.
Though Trump won Texas by almost 6 percentage points, he has hinted that he believes he really won by more despite assurances from the Texas Secretary of State's Office of a “smooth and secure” election in 2020.
To that end, Trump has publicly pressured Abbott and the Legislature to audit the 2020 elections for fraud, even though multiple academic studies, the U.S. Justice Department and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's “Election Fraud Unit” uncovered no evidence of fraud beyond isolated incidents affecting a handful of votes in an election in which 11 million Texans cast ballots.
The Texas audits will have no impact on the Electoral College vote that put Joe Biden in the White House. In a letter to Abbott earlier this fall, Trump demanded more be done to review election results in Texas.
“Your citizens don't trust the election system, and they want your leadership on this issue, which is the number one thing they care about,” Trump said in a letter to Abbott in September.
Democrats were quick to blast the move on Friday.
“The only elections ‘emergency' is that @Gregabbott_tx & other Texas Republicans continue to trample on the freedom to vote and spread Trump's Big Lie,”
House Democratic Leader Chris Turner said on Twitter.
Abbott stood by the decision.
“The people of Texas must have trust and confidence in the election process, as well as the outcomes of our elections, which is why the state of Texas will transfer funding needed so that the Texas Secretary of State can create a division dedicated entirely to this important issue,” Abbott said.
Even after the Secretary of State’s Office announced earlier this fall it was conducting a “full forensic audit” of four counties — including Harris County — lawmakers included a provision in the elections law Abbott signed in September that requires the state to pick four counties to audit after each midterm and presidential election. At least two of the counties must have populations over 300,000.
“How much taxpayer money is it going to take, to convince former President Trump that he lost the 2020 election?” said Stephanie Gómez, associate director of the Common Cause Texas advocacy group. “Wisconsin taxpayers are spending almost $700,000. Arizona taxpayers are on the hook for millions. Now, using emergency powers, Governor Abbott has got Texas taxpayers on the hook for $4 million more.”