STARR COUNTY, Texas — Attorney General Ken Paxton and his office's Election Fraud Unit on Thursday announced the arrest of a woman in an illegal voting investigation.
Paxton's office said Bernice Annette Garza used a dead woman's identity to illegal vote in the March 1, 2016, Democratic primary election in Starr County, which is west of McAllen. She was indicted by a grand jury in Hidalgo County and is charged with voter impersonation, illegal voting, and providing false information on an application for an early voting ballot.
Officials said Garza signed and turned in an application for early voting by mail for Hortencia Rios, who they said died nine years earlier.
“Mail ballots are inherently insecure. Vote harvesters, who make a living by exploiting vulnerable processes intended to make it easier for people to vote, threaten the viability of the mail ballot system and must be caught and prosecuted,” Attorney General Paxton said. “My office will continue to use everything in its power to prevent voter fraud and restore integrity to the voting process in Texas.”
The attorney general's office said it will be prosecuting Garza's case with the assistance of the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office. The illegal voting charges against the suspect are second-degree felonies punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
In the span between 2005 and 2017, the office of the attorney general prosecuted 97 people for voter fraud violations. In 2018, with the assistance from a criminal justice grant from the governor's office, the Election Fraud Unit prosecuted 33 defendants for a total of 97 election fraud violations.
In addition, Paxton announced a significant voter fraud initiative just last February addressing key problems and policy areas related to election law.