An election worker in Harris County, Texas has been charged with multiple felonies for his role in a fraud scheme that resulted in paper ballot shortages in Republican precincts during the 2022 midterms.
Darryl Blackburn, a Democrat, has been charged with six felonies over his role in rigging the election.
The charges were announced during a press conference by Democrat District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Ogg announced tampering and theft charges against Blackburn after his efforts ensured that there was a paper ballot shortage at 119 polling locations across Harris County.
There were insufficient paper ballots in many Republican precincts, the investigation found.
“We know this was a failure,” DA Ogg said.
“Mr. Blackburn not only stole thousands of dollars from Harris County in the sense that he lied on timesheets, but much more importantly, he stole individuals’ rights to vote a basic constitutional right in our democracy because people on both sides were delayed in their voting, halted in their voting, rerouted in their voting.”
Blackburn’s efforts ensured that there weren’t enough paper ballots at 119 Harris County polling elections on Election Day in 2022.
However, Ogg argues that the Democrat election worker had no intent to impact the outcome