Three days before Election Day, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office has arrested convicted felons accused of casting ballots they had no legal right to cast.
“Today, my office arrested convicted felons for voting illegally in Texas,” Paxton said Saturday. “My Election Integrity Unit is actively investigating additional reports of election crimes. We will continue working to protect the lawful votes of Texans.”
It started with a tip from a concerned citizen
According to the Attorney General’s office, the case began on October 27, when a concerned citizen reported that convicted felons who were incarcerated, on parole, or on probation had allegedly voted in Harris County, the state’s largest county and home to Houston. The tipster backed up the report with open-source information.
Investigators with the office’s Election Integrity Unit then went to work. They verified the identities of the people named, pulled their voter registration records, and checked whether each had actually cast a ballot in the 2026 election.
Prison officials confirmed parole status
The names were then sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to confirm where each person stood in the justice system. So far, the department has confirmed that multiple individuals were on parole when they voted. Under Texas law, a person convicted of a felony cannot vote until the full sentence, including any parole or probation, has been completed.
Warrants issued, arrests made
On October 30, arrest warrants were issued in Montgomery County, just north of Houston, for the individuals identified so far. Officers from the Attorney General’s office then took them into custody. The office has not publicly said how many people were arrested.
Paxton, who is also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, says the investigation is not over. His office says it is continuing to look into additional allegations of illegal voting and “remains committed to ensuring that Texas elections are free and fair.”
Why it matters right now
The arrests land in the final weekend before the November 3 midterms, with tens of millions of Americans already having voted early nationwide. Election integrity has been one of the hottest issues of the campaign, and Texas officials are signaling they intend to enforce the rules on who is eligible to vote, right up to Election Day.
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