Texas AG warns county officials they could be prosecuted for promoting mail-in ballots to fight coronavirus

On Friday, Matt Largey of KUT Austin reported that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening county officials in a new letter that they could be prosecuted for election fraud if they encourage people at risk for coronavirus to apply for mail-in ballots.

The threat is almost identical to one Paxton made two weeks ago, in which he warned that voting rights groups that encourage people to apply for absentee ballots to avoid coronavirus could face criminal sanctions.

Texas has among the strictest rules on absentee ballots of any state in the country. By law, voters in Texas may only request a mail ballot if they are over the age of 65, disabled, or absent from their county or confined in lockup during the voting period, but otherwise eligible to vote. Voting rights groups want the state to interpret "disabled" to include those who reasonably fear contracting coronavirus if they vote in a public place — something Paxton is fiercely resisting.