Texas GOP leader pays illegal voting 'bounty' to Democrat
AUSTIN, Texas — The conservative Texas Republican leader who pledged bounties to those who prove fraud at the polls has paid a liberal Democratic poll watcher who reported illegal voting by a Pennsylvania Republican.
Tipster Eric Frank deposited a $25,000 check from Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign this week, and Patrick may be on the hook for more bounties, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.
Frank reported Ralph Thurman, a 72-year-old registered Republican, after seeing him vote twice on Election Day, once for himself and once for his son, who was a registered Democrat. Frank told The News that he would have reported anyone he saw voting illegally, regardless of party. Having come from a family of Democratic operatives, however, he said he sees the irony of the situation.
“It’s my belief that they were trying to get cases of Democrats doing voter fraud. And that just wasn’t the case,” Frank said. “This kind of blew up in their face.”
Read more: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2021/10/21/texas-gop-leader-pays-illegal-voting--bounty--to-democrat