N. Texas candidate accused in vote-fraud case
AUSTIN — A North Texas mayoral candidate was arrested Wednesday and charged with more than 100 felonies related to voter fraud, authorities said.
Zul Mirza Mohamed, who’s running for Carrollton mayor, is accused of forging mail-in ballot applications for more than 80 residents and requested that ballots be sent to a fake post office box in Lewisville.
Mohamed is alleged to have used a fake identity to request the ballots and set up the post office box, which he said belonged to a nursing home, a release from the Denton County Sheriff’s Office states.
He faces 84 counts of mail ballot application fraud, a third-degree felony, and 25 counts of unlawful possession of an official mail ballot, a second-degree felony.
If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years in prison.
The mayoral election in Carrollton, which has a population of more than 120,000, is nonpartisan. The current mayor is running for re-election.
The state attorney general’s election fraud unit assisted local law enforcement officials in disrupting the scheme, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a release Thursday.
“Mail ballots are inherently insecure and vulnerable to fraud, and I am committed to safeguarding the integrity of our elections,” Paxton said.
Paxton, along with other Texas
Republican leaders, repeatedly have voiced concerns about potential voter fraud this election cycle, when a record number of people are expected to vote by mail amid the pandemic.
Paxton won a battle against Harris County to send mail ballot applications to all of its 2.4 million registered voters.
Gov. Greg Abbott also issued a proclamation last week that each county, regardless of size, must have only one drop-off location for mail-in ballots.
He cited voter fraud con
cerns, but advocates and election watchdogs have said the move will disenfranchise elderly voters and discourage people from dropping off their ballots.
Ballot dropoff sites require a photo ID, and voter fraud overall is extremely rare in the United States.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress last month that the agency has not seen “any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election,” including through absentee voting.
“Voter fraud is a serious and widespread issue and cannot be tolerated,” Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree said in a statement Thursday. “The fact an actual candidate for public office would engage in these activities is appalling.”