KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Kaufman County 86th District Judge Casey Blair signed a temporary restraining order Thursday morning filed by State Representative Lance Gooden to keep potential fraudulent ballots from being opened or counted prior to next Tuesday’s Republican run off.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Kaufman County 86th District Judge Casey Blair signed a temporary restraining order Thursday morning filed by State Representative Lance Gooden to keep potential fraudulent ballots from being opened or counted prior to next Tuesday’s Republican run off.
In court documents filed Thursday morning, Gooden asked for injunctive relief to reject the applications for dozens of mail in ballots and asked that the ballots not be counted for the run off or any other election until they have been investigated by the state’s attorney general’s office.
The filings are in response to voter fraud and voter harvesting discovered during the March 6 primaries and investigations into a disproportionate number of absentee ballots in the recent Terrell ISD school board elections.
“Fraud took place in March and fraud took place in the Terrell School Board race two weeks ago. I, along with voters across Kaufman County, am sick and tired of nothing being done about it,” Gooden said.
The filing states Judge Martin Lowry, sitting in the 422nd District court has already ruled that five mail-in ballots presented were not completed in compliance with Texas Election code in a case filed by judicial candidate Tracy Gray.
After hearing the testimony of alleged voter harvester, Brenda Prince, the judge found her testimony not credible and ordered a new election for the Kaufman county court at law race.
Gooden’s filing also asks for the court to intervene in an additional 23 other applications and ballots that are under suspicion for also being harvested by Prince. Gooden wants these ballots inspected by attorney general election officials prior to being opened by the Republican party ballot board, which has been scheduled for Monday according to the suit. Once the ballots are opened, they then become anonymous.
Gooden had previously requested that the attorney general’s office investigate voter fraud in Kaufman County after the initial investigation back in March, in which they responded that they planned to, but due to lack of resources have not been unable to do so thus far.
“Those who have had their ballots stolen from them by ballot harvesters should be protected, harvesters should be locked up, and the taxpayers should not have to endure another special election in the event of another razor thin margin that triggers a post-election contest,” Gooden said in a statement. “By getting in front of this before illegal ballots are thrown into the pot and ringing a bell that can't be un-rung, we are doing right by the voters and the taxpayers.”
Judge Blair sided with Gooden and signed the order which will prevent any of the alleged absentee ballots from being opened until a hearing in the 86th district court next Thursday.
“So help me God, I will fight this ballot fraud cancer throughout the summer and as long as it takes for people to have 100% faith in the democratic process in Kaufman County. I encourage party officials and leaders across our great county to join me on the right side of history as we ensure integrity at the ballot box,” Gooden said.
This is a developing story. A copy of the filing can be found below:
https://efile.txcourts.gov/DownloadResource.ashx?RID=dd3eb2d0-ef6e-462a-912e-7e1a069cb475