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The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune
National
Alejandro Serrano

Texas court confirms the attorney general can’t unilaterally prosecute election cases

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recites the Pledge of Allegiance at a Trump Rally in Conroe on Jan. 29, 2022.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recites the Pledge of Allegiance at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Conroe on Jan. 29. (Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's last-ditch attempt to regain the power of his office to unilaterally prosecute election cases was rejected by the state’s highest criminal court Wednesday.

The Court of Criminal Appeals instead upheld its previous ruling that says that the attorney general must get permission from local county prosecutors to pursue cases on issues like voter fraud. Paxton had been fighting to overturn that ruling as the issue of prosecuting election fraud has become fraught in recent years. Paxton sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and has aggressively pursued individual cases of fraud, outraging some voting rights advocates who see the punishments as too harsh for people who made honest mistakes.

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