LIMESTONE COUNTY, TX — Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that his Election Fraud Unit assisted the Limestone County Sheriff and District Attorney in charging Kelly Reagan Brunner, a social worker in the Mexia State Supported Living Center (SSLC), with 134 felony counts of purportedly acting as an agent and of election fraud.
If convicted, Brunner faces up to 10 years in prison for these offenses.
The county's election administrator, Jennifer Southard, says Brunner did not get past voter registration checks.
"They were caught at the time of submission," she said. "These were applications to register to vote, they were not applications for ballot by mail, they were specifically applications to vote.”
“I strongly commend the Limestone County District Attorney's Office, Sheriff’s Office, and Elections Office, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General for their outstanding work on this case and their commitment to ensuring a free and fair presidential election...” said Attorney General Paxton. “Registering citizens to vote or to obtain mail ballots without their consent is illegal. It is particularly offensive when individuals purport to be champions for disability rights, when in reality they are abusing our most vulnerable citizens in order to gain access to their ballots and amplify their own political voice. My office is prepared to assist any Texas county in combating this insidious form of fraud.”
President Donald Trump won nearly 75% of Limestone County's votes.
State Supported Living Centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Brunner is accused of submitting voter registration applications for 67 residents without their signature or effective consent, while purporting to act as their agent.
Under Texas law, only a parent, spouse or child who is a qualified voter of the county may act as an agent in registering a person to vote, after being appointed to do so by that person.
None of the SSLC patients gave effective consent to be registered, and a number of them have been declared totally mentally incapacitated by a court, thereby making them ineligible to vote in Texas, according to a press release by Paxton's office.
