Dan Patrick Rewards for Voter Fraud
Could Be Litmus Test for Legislation

Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
November 29, 2020

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick may be trying to breathe fire into an election security crusade at the Texas Capitol in 2021 with the million dollar bounty fund that he's set up to root out voter fraud in the general election this fall.

But the rewards plan that Patrick hatched a week after the 2020 vote represents a high-risk gamble that could make tighter restrictions on voting in Texas a much tougher sell in the Legislature next year if the evidence solicitation scheme proves to be a bust.

Patrick said when he pitched the bounties initially on November 10 that a "lack of transparency" in the presidential ballot counts had fueled suspicions on a stolen election in swing states where the outcome had been close. Democratic President-elect Joe Biden as it turns out had won all of the battleground states in question.

Transparency could be a tricky proposition for Patrick - however - as he digs up incriminating information on election piracy with promises of five-figure cash payouts as bait for Democrats who are willing to rat each other out if the price is right.

Patrick had vowed to shell out a minimum of $25,000 for evidence that culminates in criminal convictions. But Patrick faces a delicate balance between public accountability and the need to protect the confidentiality of the sources that he fosters in the hunt for criminal misdeeds at the ballot box.

Patrick - the Trump campaign chairman in Texas - has kept his cards pressed to his vest up to now on evidence he's rounded up since going public with the reward pitch almost three weeks ago. Patrick is committing money that he raised from donors to bankroll the bounties that would pile up fast if there'd been any truth on the massive illegalities that Trump and his legal team claim to have uncovered but have no evidence to support.

According to the way Patrick structured the reward fund, he would have the cash for a maximum of 40 reward payments if he limited each to 25K - the amount that he said would be the very least for guilty verdicts or negotiated pleas. Patrick apparently has the authority to earmark donor dollars for expenditures on law enforcement as long as he doesn't benefit personally from the transactions.

But Trump and top lawyer Rudy Giuliani have been telling judges that millions of votes were stolen from the president in a scheme that features communist mobsters from Caracas to Havana and at least one dead South American president. The $1 million that Patrick has pledged to the hunt for voter fraud might not stretch far enough to get the kingpins and masterminds behind the largest heist by far in the history of the planet.

Without a substantial infusion, Patrick might have to settle for busting small-time crooks for five-and-dime offenses that are tantamount to misdemeanors in the greater scheme of crime at the ballot box. Patrick hasn't provided any updates on the initial success that he's had with the rewards initiative.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers will want to have as much of Patrick's data as they can get when weighing a slew of new proposed limitations on voting rights in Texas. Patrick will be able to point to a run on the reward funds as evidence that the Texas election system is tainted and needs to be reformed.

But Patrick and the Republicans could find it harder to justify additional restrictions on voting in Texas if the rewards promotion doesn't get the kind of results he envisions.

Dan Patrick Voter Fraud Reward Fund Statement

“The Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for creating suspicion of final vote totals. Not allowing Republican poll watchers to observe the vote count in multiple states, in some cases blocking their view with poster board, last minute changes in election laws in battleground states, ignoring the deadline to vote and accepting ballots for days after the election, ignoring postmarks and signature checks, not verifying that mail-in ballots were being sent to people who were alive or living in the state and voting machines that have been a concern for over a decade all raise serious questions.

“This lack of transparency has led many to believe that the final count is not accurate in states where the winner was determined be a very small percentage of the vote.

“In Texas we know voter fraud is real. In just the last 60 days, we have had three major arrests on voter fraud including a social worker who was arrested last week for allegedly registering almost 70 developmentally disabled adults to vote without their signature or consent.

“In Texas, we also know that it is possible to provide the results of mail-in ballots on Election Day. We counted 970,000 mail-in ballots last Tuesday – a 55% increase over 2018 – and added those results to the in-person voting total before midnight on Election Day. The delays in counting mail-in ballots in other states raises more questions about voter fraud and potential mistakes.

“When all legal votes are tallied and all illegal votes are discarded, then America can have a greater level of confidence in the election process.

“President Trump is absolutely right to pursue every allegation of voter fraud and irregularities, just as Al Gore did in 2000. Every candidate for public office has this right. My goal is to ensure that, regardless of the outcome, every American has faith in our electoral process and our democracy.”