Harris Co. election official accused of time card fraud after Texas Rangers probe, DA Kim Ogg says
The district attorney said there was no evidence the former employee was trying to interfere with the 2022 election.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg and the Texas Rangers announced criminal charges on Tuesday that they say were related to the November 2022 election.
A clerk who worked in the elections administrator's office is accused of falsifying timecards. Investigators say he worked a second full-time job for 15 months while he worked for the county.
The district attorney's office shared that the election official will be charged with theft and five counts of tampering with government documents.
According to ABC13's news partners at the Houston Chronicle, this is the result of a Texas Rangers investigation into the November 2022 Harris County Election prompted by state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott.
The 2022 election came under scrutiny for its handling and being fraught with issues.
Some of the problems occurred during early voting.
The Harris County Elections Administration released a 54-page report a month after the midterm elections, outlining what happened during early voting, Election Day and after Election Day.
The report stated problems ranged from error messages on machines and paper jams causing issues with ballots to blaming the United States Postal Service for mail-in ballot problems.
A lack of supplies was also said to be an issue, with 68 Election Day voting locations running out of paper. Sixty-one received additional deliveries.
On Tuesday, Ogg said there was no evidence the clerk was trying to interfere with the election. She said his role on Election Day was to allocate the paper that would go to polling places.
"We know this was a failure," Oggs said about the worker's alleged crime. "The result is that he didn't do his job for Harris County. Can't do two full-time jobs and give them the credit and the attention that they need."
Texas Rangers found the time card fraud while investigating complaints into the 2022 election.
In 2023, lawsuits were filed challenging the election results.
An audit from the Texas Secretary of State's Office also found "multiple failures" could have prevented some voters from casting a ballot, but it stopped short of saying any race's outcome was affected.
Following the election, state legislators passed a bill to get rid of the appointed county elections administrator. The county clerk is now in charge.
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