Gov. Greg Abbott and GOP legislative leaders announced Friday that $4 million has been shifted from the state prison system to the secretary of state’s office to pay for county election audits as required under the state’s new elections law.
TheDallas Morning Newsreported the secretary of state’s office, which is under the governor’s control, would create an Election Audit Division that could conduct random county audits of elections under the new law.
“Ensuring the integrity of our elections is critical to our democracy, and the Texas Secretary of State’s office deserves the resources and support needed to thoroughly complete this ongoing task,” Abbott said.
Abbott said the audit of Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Collin counties is“the largest forensic audit in the country.” Former President Trump called for a statewide review of the 2020 presidential election despite winning the state by more than 600,000 votes.