Texas politician offers $1m for proof of voter fraud and pushes baseless claims

An ultra-conservative Texas politician who believes seniors would rather die from Covid-19 than allow the pandemic to harm the economy is pushing another baseless theory, and dangling a million-dollar bounty for proof that Donald Trump is being cheated of victory in the presidential election.

Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of the lone star state, says he is offering the money to “incentivize, encourage and reward” citizens who can provide evidence of voter fraud, even though the president beat Joe Biden in Texas by almost 650,000 votes.

“I support President Trump’s efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidential election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualified,” Patrick said in a statement, reported by ABC13 in Austin.

“The delays in counting mail-in ballots in other states raises more questions about voter fraud and potential mistakes.”

To that end, Patrick is offering the payout in chunks of at least $25,000 to every person who provides information that leads to a conviction. The money will come from Patrick’s campaign funds, according to a spokesperson.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or malfeasance in Texas or any other state, despite the repeated efforts of Trump and his supporters to cast doubt over the integrity of the 3 November election.

Patrick’s press release also contained no evidence of mass voter fraud, and instead cited a single episode in which a care home social worker was arrested for allegedly attempting to register 67 of its residents to vote, apparently without their knowledge.

By comparison, Trump’s lead in Texas over Biden was 647,076 votes on Wednesday afternoon, with more than 99% of the state’s ballots counted.

Patrick created controversy in March for his comments on keeping the economy open during the coronavirus pandemic, which on Wednesday saw Texas become the first US state to surpass 1m infections.

“No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’” Patrick said.

“And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in. That doesn’t make me noble or brave or anything like that. I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me.”