Texas Announces 2020 Election Audit in Four Counties
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, the Texas secretary of state’s office announced that it would conduct “a full and comprehensive forensic audit” for the 2020 election in four of the state’s largest counties. The short press release outlined the secretary of state’s authority to conduct such an audit and that it is already underway in Texas’ two largest Democrat counties and two largest Republican counties — Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Collin. Despite the Democrat and Republican labels, President Joe Biden won three out of the four targeted counties.
The statement did not outline a reason for the audit. However, former President Donald Trump released a letter calling for Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to create an election audit bill just hours before the announcement. The position for secretary of state is appointed by the governor, but currently vacant. Rejecting Trump’s false claims that the “election was stolen,” officials have concluded that the 2020 election was one of the most secure in history, with no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Unlike other states conducting unnecessary post-election audits such as Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, Trump won Texas in 2020. Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria criticized the audit as “another attack by officials on our communities’ trust in elections.”