Clerk's office discovers illegal voting

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- In Harris County, some people took the expression 'vote twice' literally.

County Clerk Beverly Kaufman and her staff have uncovered evidence that a comparatively huge number of citizens may have voted twice in the election, while others may have participated in both the Republican and Democratic primaries.

They say 460 people voted illegally in person by casting ballots in both early voting and on election day. That is a third degree felony.

In addition, another 700 people may have voted in both the Democratic and Republican primaries, most suspected of doing so on election day. Today, Kaufman and the clerk's office will deliver the poll books to the district attorney that show the names of the people who may have voted illegally.

"I do not anticipate this is going to affect any races," said Kaufman. "The results of the primaries have been canvassed by the parties. The ballots have been prepared for the runoff election. I feel that the results are going to stand from the primary."

If someone is found guilty of knowingly casting a ballot during both early voting and election day, state law carries a range of punishment between two and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

It's not uncommon for officials to discover a handful of these questionable situations during any given election, but 1,100, Kaufman says, is a huge number.

Incidentally, there are claims that some of the commercials that ran before the elections which suggested you could do the Texas Two Step and vote twice may have been misread by the voters. What those commercials meant was that you could caucus as well.

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