Illegal Voting Gets Texas Woman 8 Years in Prison, and Certain Deportation
Despite repeated statements by Republican political leaders that American elections are rife with illegal voting, credible reports of fraud have been hard to find and convictions rarer still.
That may help explain the unusually heavy penalty imposed on Rosa Maria Ortega, 37, a permanent resident and a mother of four who lives outside Dallas. On Thursday, a Fort Worth judge sentenced her to eight years in prison and almost certainly deportation later after she voted illegally in elections in 2012 and 2014...
Prosecutors for Mr. Paxton and Tarrant County said that she had lied and that the same forms and conversations proved it. A jury convicted her Wednesday of two felony charges.
Mr. Birdsall said Mr. Paxtons office had been prepared to dismiss all charges against Ms. Ortega if she agreed to testify on voting procedures before the Texas Legislature. But the Tarrant County criminal district attorney, Sharen Wilson, vetoed that deal, he said, insisting on a trial that would showcase her offices efforts to crack down on election fraud...
Ms. Ortegas conviction looks to be an early volley in a reinvigorated partisan war over voting rights a war led in Texas by Mr. Paxton, who has crusaded against voter fraud. (Coincidentally, he faces legal issues of his own: state securities fraud charges and a federal lawsuit stemming from efforts to recruit investors for a technology company; he has denied wrongdoing.)
Far-right websites have seized on Ms. Ortegas conviction as proof that Mr. Trump is right about rampant fraud and efforts by Democrats to steal the November election.
There is, however, at least one flaw in that story: Ms. Ortega was a registered Republican.
She voted for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the 2012 election. In 2014 she voted for our current attorney general, Ken Paxton, Mr. Birdsall said. And guess what? Hes the one responsible for prosecuting her.