Republican Texas State Rep. Steve Toth has introduced a bill calling for a forensic audit of his state’s 2020 election results.
“We need a forensic audit to uncover all the voter fraud,” Toth said, according to a news release.
“Prior to the special session, I met with constituents across District 15 in South Montgomery County. The Texas Voter Confidence Act is a product of those meetings and a direct request from the voters who sent me to Austin.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / July 19, 2021 REP. TOTH INTRODUCES BILL TO AUDIT 2020 ELECTION RESULTS / Austin, TX#AuditTheVote#FullTexasAuditHB241 pic.twitter.com/nT7NImKvxD
— Steve Toth (@Toth_4_Texas) July 19, 2021
The release noted the audit would include Texas’ 13 biggest counties, which “include both Republican and Democrat strongholds.”
By this standard, there would be an audit of Toth’s own race in Montgomery County, where 273,098 of the state’s 11,315,056 ballots were cast in November, according to the Montgomery County Gazette.
Audits have become an unorthodox phenomenon of the American election process following the 2020 election, with the concept being popularized by the highly scrutinized audit in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Former President Donald Trump narrowly won the state of Texas with 52.1 percent of the vote, The Texas Tribune reported.
House Bill 241 requests an “independent third party” to examine ballots starting Nov. 1, 2021, and complete the audit no later than Feb. 1, 2022.
As Toth wants to audit a state Trump won, including his own state-level race, critics cannot accuse him of being hypocritical.
It appears his end goal is to track down people who have committed voter fraud and figure out ways to improve the elections process, not to somehow overturn any certified election results.
“Representative Toth’s proposed bill is timely and necessary with a view to exposing any instances of fraud during the 2020 election and reassuring Texas voters that their votes were accurately counted. I fully support passage of this bill and look forward to the results of the audit,” Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said, according to Toth’s release.
Since 2004, 154 individuals have been charged with 534 voter fraud offenses in Texas, according to KVUE-TV.
Toth’s request comes as Texas Democratic state representatives fled to Washington, D.C., last week to block election reform legislation from being passed.
.@GregAbbott_TX: Texas Democrats’ decision to flee the state harms the progress of their constituents’ priorities and will be detrimental to their success at the ballot box next November. pic.twitter.com/lQdvqrRu9w
— The RGA (@The_RGA) July 19, 2021
The dichotomy between many conservatives and liberals on the issue of voting and elections is drastic: A plurality of Trump supporters lost trust in the system after the 2020 election, and liberals think the process is under attack.
Unfortunately, these destructive mentalities will only persist if Republican and Democratic lawmakers refuse to cooperate in order to make elections more simple and secure.
