Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office has arrested convicted felons accused of illegally casting ballots in Texas elections, with warrants executed in Montgomery County this week. The case traces back to a tip about voting activity in Harris County, where investigators say felons who were incarcerated, on parole, or on probation allegedly cast ballots they were not legally entitled to cast.
According to woodlandsonline.com, a concerned citizen reported on October 27 that convicted felons who were incarcerated, on parole, or on probation had allegedly cast ballots in Harris County. That tip prompted the Attorney General's Election Integrity Unit to open an investigation and begin collecting evidence of potential violations of the Texas Election Code, the outlet reported. The seed report from NewsRadio 740 KTRH notes that Paxton's office received the tip on October 26, per the attorney general's office, and that the alleged ballots were cast during early voting ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.
Parole Status Made Votes Ineligible, TDCJ Says
Per the same account from woodlandsonline.com, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed that multiple individuals were on parole when they cast their ballots, rendering them ineligible to vote under Texas law. Election Integrity Unit analysts then verified the identities of the individuals, reviewed their voter registration records, and examined whether they had cast ballots in the 2026 election, according to montgomerycountypolicereporter.com.
Under the Texas Election Code, a person with a felony sentence is only considered a qualified voter once they have fully discharged that sentence — including incarceration, parole, or supervision — or completed a court-ordered period of probation, per Texas Legislature Online, Texas Election Code §11.002. Separately, the code states that a person commits an offense if they knowingly or intentionally vote or attempt to vote in an election while aware they are not eligible to do so, according to Texas Legislature Online, Texas Election Code §64.012.
Warrants Executed in Montgomery County
Arrest warrants were issued in Montgomery County on October 30, and officers from the Attorney General's Office arrested the individuals identified so far in the investigation, the woodlandsonline.com report states. The seed report from NewsRadio 740 KTRH describes the arrests as occurring Friday in Montgomery County, with investigating officers from the Attorney General's Office using those warrants to make the arrests.
“Today, my office arrested convicted felons for voting illegally in Texas. My Election Integrity Unit is actively investigating additional reports of election crimes,” Paxton said, according to the same woodlandsonline.com account. His office said it would continue working to protect Texans' lawful votes and continue investigating allegations of illegal voting, per the NewsRadio 740 KTRH report.
Part of a Broader Pattern Across Texas
The Montgomery County arrests follow other recent Texas cases involving allegations of illegal voting. A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, a 69-year-old Indian national and lawful permanent resident, of illegally voting in the 2024 presidential election and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, as reported by dallasexpress.com. Bhengura was one of seven noncitizens charged in a federal election investigation announced on September 15, the outlet noted. Separately, the Southern District of Texas has charged five non-U.S. citizens, including one illegal alien, from Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, and Mexico, with unlawfully voting in federal elections, lying on immigration documents, or falsely claiming American citizenship, according to the United States Department of Justice, Southern District of Texas.
Dallas Express also reported that a Dallas County complaint alleged the same voter appeared in two electronic poll books five minutes apart during early voting on October 21, though no criminal wrongdoing had been established in that case. Not every past allegation has held up in court: Crystal Mason was convicted and sentenced in March 2018 for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 general election while on supervised release after a felony tax-fraud conviction, according to FactCheck.org. The Texas Second Court of Appeals overturned that conviction in March 2024, finding evidence that Mason did not knowingly cast an illegal vote, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals allowed that ruling to stand in September 2024, the fact-checking outlet reported.
The number of people arrested in the Montgomery County case, their identities, and the specific charges they face have not been disclosed in available reporting. For now, Paxton's office says its Election Integrity Unit continues to actively investigate additional reports of election crimes as Texas voters head into Tuesday's midterm elections.
