Only 82 voter fraud reports in Tarrant County

DALLAS – KERA radio reports the Tarrant County Election Integrity Task Force received 82 complaints of alleged voter fraud over the past 15 months. In that time, zero charges have been filed. That’s according to County Administrator Chandler Merritt, who spoke at Tuesday’s Tarrant County Commissioner’s Court meeting. The task force was created by Sheriff Bill Waybourn, County Judge Tim O’Hare and District Attorney Judge Phil Sorrells and was announced to the public February 2023. But the trio of elected officials did not consult then-Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia, or any other election official when creating the task force. Garcia left the elections administrator position last year following a barrage of personal attacks and even death threats. Some far-right conservative groups suggested there was widespread election fraud in Tarrant County.

Commissioners were briefed by Merritt, but neither a sheriff’s spokesperson nor a district attorney spokesperson was present. Those absences worried Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons. “It is remarkable that neither the DA or sheriff are here to brief us since this was their idea,” Simmons said. “They were such enthusiastic supporters of having this task force. So I expected to be briefed by them and not [County Administrator Chandler Merritt]. It is concerning, but not unremarkable.” Simmons would later say that the task forces does not appear to be necessary. “We are approaching a big election cycle,” Simmons said. “We have dedicated funds and staff to this task force and I just wanted to see if after a year, it has been performing or if it’s necessary. With 82 complaints in a county of 2.2 million, it seems like a waste of taxpayer dollars to me. Hopefully at some point we can get a full update from either the district attorney or the sheriff on the necessity of this task force.” The task force consists of three attorneys from the district attorney’s office and one sheriff’s investigator. Complaints are sent to either the sheriff’s or the Criminal District Attorney’s offices to be processed and investigated.