A candidate for the mayor of a Texas city just north of Dallas has been arrested and faces 109 felony counts of ballot fraud, Denton County officials announced.
Zul Mirza Mohamed, 39, who is challenging Carrollton’s Republican incumbent Kevin Falconer, has been charged with 25 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot and 84 counts of fraudulent use of a mail ballot application.
Carrollton is a city of about 140,000.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday besides the 84 absentee ballots that Mohamed already obtained, he was caught applying for more when he was arrested, The Washington Times reported.
The investigation began on Sept. 23 when Denton County election officials realized they had sent numerous ballots supposedly requested by residents of a nursing home to a post office box. When contacted, the nursing home residents said they had not requested the ballots, the Denton County Sheriff’s Office said.
The post office box was discovered to have been rented with a fraudulent driver’s license and a university student ID.
An undercover officer was assigned to the post office to surveil the box, and on Wednesday Mohamed came to pick up the ballots. Police followed him to his home in Carrollton, obtained a search warrant and found the ballots.
''Voter fraud is a serious and widespread issue and cannot be tolerated,'' Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree said. ''The fact an actual candidate for public office would engage in these activities is appalling.''
President Donald Trump has routinely stated he believes universal mail-in ballots are ripe for fraud and abuse, while Democrats have contended there is no evidence of widespread abuse.
''Mail ballots are inherently insecure and vulnerable to fraud, and I am committed to safeguarding the integrity of our elections," Paxton said. "My office is prepared to assist any Texas county in combating this form of fraud.''
The Carrollton case is the second voter fraud prosecution launched by Paxton in recent weeks. In September, he announced the arrest of a Democratic Gregg County commissioner and three associates in connection with a 2018 election.
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