Texas's Republican lieutenant-governor Dan Patrick has offered a $1 million reward from his own campaign funds for any tipsters who can come forward to provide evidence of ballot tampering in the recent US elections.
President @realDonaldTrump’s @POTUS pursuit of voter fraud is not only essential to determine the outcome of this election, it is essential to maintain our democracy and restore faith in future elections. Here’s my statement: https://t.co/7pUPJWsd3M#txlege
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) November 10, 2020
The bounty offered by Patrick is to “incentivize, encourage and reward people to come forward” in support of Donald Trump's “efforts to identify voter fraud”. Reports that result in an arrest and final conviction are to receive a minimum remuneration of $25,000.
“I support President Trump’s efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidential election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualified,” said Patrick in a statement.
The GOP governor added that Trump’s intention to purse the issue of voter fraud is “essential to maintain our democracy and restore faith in future elections".
“Every candidate for public office has this right. My goal is to ensure that, regardless of the outcome, every American has faith in our electoral process and our democracy,” Patrick said.
With most US media having called the 3 November presidential election for Democrat candidate Joe Biden, President Donald Trump and his team have refused to concede, launching legal challenges in a number of key battleground states and claiming widespread voter fraud.
However, though many in the Republican Party have closed ranks behind their leader, some have called on Trump to present evidence of his claims.
Trump himself went on Twitter to applaud the Governor’s move.
Thanks Dan. Big win for us in Texas! https://t.co/MqNSOf6AWP
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2020
Trump also touted his “big win” in the state, as battleground Texas, reliably red for the past three decades, was called for the POTUS in the election.
As purported election winner Joe Biden has been receiving congratulations from a plethora of world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, and is said to be preparing for the transition from the Trump administration, Donald Trump’s campaign has been disputing “illegal” ballots cast after the election deadline and denouncing lack of transparency over vote counting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2020
Amid a record number of mail-in voting during the 2020 election, because of the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump had long argued that the procedure was fraught with “election rigging”.
“This was a stolen election,” Trump tweeted on Sunday, the day after Biden was pronounced by media as president-elect.
