State Rep Dean: ‘Mail-in ballot fraud happens’

LONGVIEW — A Gregg County Grand Jury indicted four defendants on election offenses earlier this week. According to court documents the charges are based on allegations committed during the 2018 Democratic primary race for Gregg County Commissioner Precinct Four. On Friday State Representative Jay Dean told KTBB, “The folks that harvest these votes they are professionals…They will go to someone’s mail box and remove the ballot from the mailbox. They are professionals so I think I would encourage everybody to be very careful. If you see anything suspicious; at all, regardless of how big or little it is, you should contact local law enforcement to have it checked out.”

The indictments allege 134 felony counts against four defendants, including Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown. The indictments cover a range of offenses including engaging in organized election fraud and fraudulent use of a mail ballot application. During the 2018 race between Kasha Williams and Mr. Brown, some concerning numbers were released. In all other Gregg County precincts, a combined total of 12 mail ballot applications were requested based on a voter’s disability. In Precinct 4, voters requested 366 ballots based on the voters’ disabilities.

The State Rep out of District 7 continued, “I think what we all want and that is what this two-year process has been about, in Gregg County we just want a fair election. We are not trying to suppress voters or anything like that. But it’s time to make sure that all of our elections are fair. In the case of this election in 2018, it was anything but fair.”

While Williams defeated Brown by more than 20 points in in-person early voting and election day ballots, 73% of these 366 mail ballot votes were cast for Brown, who ultimately won the election by five votes. According to county elections data, 69% percent of mail ballot applications for Brown’s race were marked as being assisted by a third-party.

Gregg County District Attorney Tom Watson said in a media brief,“Voting is one of our most precious rights as Americans. We get to choose who we want to represent our interests, locally, statewide,and nationally. Unfortunately,there are individuals out there who would jeopardize the integrity of our elections for personal gain. My office stands strong with the Attorney General’s Office to ensure that the integrity of our electoral system is protected.”