LONGVIEW — The Texas Attorney General and Secretary of State are investigating possible voter fraud in Gregg County.
Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt and other elected officials announced the investigation at the Gregg County Courthouse.
Last Friday, a man made an official complaint, alleging fraudulent activity in the Commissioner Precinct Four race between former Easton Mayor Shannon Brown and former Longview City Councilwoman Kasha Williams.
Brown defeated Williams in the race. Due to a five vote win, Williams protested the result but a judge denied a recount and suit.
“They received an official complaint that absentee votes in the primary race in March were fraudulent, due to the large number of mail in ballots,” State Representative Jay Dean says.
District 1 State Senator Bryan Hughes, spoke in favor of the investigation.
"We have to be honest, this race in Gregg County Precinct 4 really stands out,” State Senator Bryan Hughes says. “If you look at the state, nine percent of all elections are absentee ballots. Thirty-two percent of the ballots in this race were absentee.”
Elected officials would not comment on the investigation and say it could take several months for it to be concluded.
Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt released a statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:
AUSTIN- The Office of the Attorney General has received a complaint alleging organized vote harvesting in Gregg County. While our general policy is to not comment on any investigating in its early stages, we review election fraud complaints thoroughly, and where warranted, will investigate election offenses to the full extent of our resources. Election fraud undermines completely the integrity of the voting process and cannot be tolerated to any degree.