Illegal immigrants are voting in U.S. elections, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said that several voter fraud prosecutions have happened in his state.
"I know it's an issue because I deal with it. We just got a conviction on an illegal that voted in an election," Paxton told The Washington Times, blaming local election officials for allowing the noncitizens to vote.
"They're complicit in allowing it to happen. I guarantee it is happening — whatever people say."
President Donald Trump has claimed that "millions" of illegal votes were cast in the presidential election. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump praised Greg Phillips, founder of voter fraud reporting app VoteStand, noting that Phillips said he had uncovered 3 million votes from "noncitizens."
The attorney general is a proponent of Texas' voter ID law, one of the toughest in the country, according to The Washington Times.
Local authorities are not attempting to spot fraudulent voting, Paxton said.
"What other reason really is there, really, for saying that we shouldn't have photo ID unless you really don't want fraud being prevented?"
Jon Bond, a Texas A&M political science professor, said that evidence of widespread voter fraud is not reliable, and it is being used as an excuse to install voter ID laws that would target people likely to vote Democrat.
"This type of partisan opportunism undermines the legitimacy of American democracy —that's the widespread voter fraud occurring now."
Another political science professor, Jim Granato at the University of Houston, said that no comprehensive nationwide study exists on the issue and existing information does not point to widespread illegal voting.
"That does not mean it does not occur," Granato said.
Republicans and other officials have expressed their relief that Trump has not pursued his call to investigate his fraud claims, according to Politico.
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