December 19, 2018 The Honorable Governor of

RE: Secretary of State, Chief Elections Officer for Texas

Dear Governor Abbott:

Your appointment this week of David Whitley to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Rolando Pablos represents an important opportunity for you to require a higher standard for the Office of Texas Secretary of State. As citizen-initiated investigations continue to reveal escalating evidence of voter fraud, process weaknesses, and what we consider to be rogue actions by SOS employees who routinely ignore or thwart law by issuing waivers, Texans are demanding that the Secretary of State protect our elections.

By law, the Secretary of State acts as the chief elections officer for the State of Texas, assisting county election officials and ensuring the uniform application and interpretation of election laws throughout Texas. We raise this fact because it sometimes appears that the extra duties assigned by executive order to the Texas Secretary of State – the more glamorous duties of acting as senior advisor and liaison to the Governor for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs and serving as Chief International Protocol Officer for Texas – have become far more important than the constitutional role relating to elections.

Since your first term in office, grassroots Texans have called on you to promote and enact needed reforms to ensure election integrity. We note that you’ve taken a strong public stance on fraud, and good election integrity bills bear your signature. Thank you.

While your work to date is headed in the right direction, we’ve identified

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significant deficiencies that need to be addressed by the incoming Secretary of State. Appointed by you and confirmed by the State Senate, the Texas Secretary of State serves at your pleasure; therefore, we believe now is the time for you to ensure your appointee is ready to proactively utilize the power of the agency to support needed election security reforms during the 2019 legislative session and to faithfully carry out the election laws currently in place.

Grassroots Texans concerned with election integrity and ballot security continue to monitor the actions and progress of the Secretary of State’s office. Below are the actions we believe the Secretary should immediately take to protect the integrity of our elections:

● Have our statewide voter registration database, the Texas Election Administration Management (TEAM) system, checked against Department of Public Safety database records to ensure that non- citizens are not registered to vote.

● Remove illegal voters by comparing registration records against the DPS database so that only legal voters cast ballots in Texas elections.

● Utilize an interstate crosscheck to make sure voters are not registered in multiple states. Texas Election Code (TEC) Section 18.062 instructs

the Secretary to opt into an interstate crosscheck program. The Secretary must make use of one of the available interstate crosschecks currently in place, the Electronic Registration Information Center, the Interstate Crosscheck Program, or Kansas’ system. (Based on information we’ve gathered, we have every reason to believe this law is being ignored by the Secretary of State’s Office. If there are

persons who are dually registered to vote in Texas and another state, and these persons have voted in Texas elections, this is just one more way our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights are being violated.)

● Keep our voter rolls clear of voters who have moved, are deceased, or are otherwise ineligible.

● Immediately end the practice of issuing waivers that suspend Texas

election laws. This practice violates the Texas Constitution Article 1, Section 28, “No power of suspending laws in this State shall be exercised except by the Legislature.” Stop the unconstitutional waivers and ensure all counties uniformly:

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a) Print complete zero tapes directly prior to the opening of polls for early voting and on Election Day – Tx Admin. Code Rule § 81.52(h). b) Print complete results tapes/precinct returns directly when polls close for early voting and on election day – Tx. Elec. Code §§ 66.022(1), 66.023(1), and 66.024(1),

c) Perform post-election partial manual recounts – Tx. Elec. Code 127.01 d) Cease the use of internet connectivity for all computers used in central counting stations where votes are being counted – Tx. Elec. Code 129.054(a)

e) Sequentially number all ballots – Tx. Constitution and Elec. Code 52.062.

Following the 2017 legislative session, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick formed a Select Committee on Election Security to research election integrity and to explore ways to ensure Texas’ elections are protected. The committee’s report notes that in 2018, 97 cases of voter fraud have been prosecuted. Additionally, there are 59 cases pending prosecution and 63 open investigations.

We know that people are financing and executing vote-harvesting operations in Texas. We know that non-citizens are voting in our elections.

We know unconstitutional waivers are being issued to counties so much so that electronic vote tabulations are not secure. As such, it is unacceptable for the incoming SOS to maintain the status quo on items listed above.

Governor Abbott, it makes no difference if Texas has strong laws on the books if they are not enforced. You have an opportunity to protect our elections by making sure the new Secretary of State will aggressively address the above captioned issues and strengthen our election codes. When these and other reforms are enacted, Texans will then be confident that our elections in Texas are being executed fairly and accurately. You can count on all of us to support you in this effort.

Sincerely, the undersigned Texas grassroots political leaders,*

Daniel Greer, Executive Director, Direct Action Texas JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director, Grassroots America – We the People PAC Laura Pressley, Ph.D., Founder, True Texas Elections LLC C.R. "Dick" Saulsbury, Saulsbury Companies, SD 31

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Cathie Adams, 1st VP, National Eagle Forum; former Texas GOP State Chair Sam Anderson, Flower Mound Area Republican Club James Ashby, Tarrant County Republican Party, HD 92 Area Leader LaDaune Ashley, Brazoria County Conservatives Deborah Bailey, San Angelo TEA Party

Dottie Barnes, co-founder, Conservative Society of Navarro County Anna Bartosh, Treasurer, San Angelo TEA Party Annette Bennett, Fredericksburg Tea Party; Heritage Action Sentinel Geri Bentley, Treasurer, Clear Lake Tea Party Beth Biesel, leader, Park Cities Preston Hollow Leadership Forum Bill Bingham, Vice President, Bryan/College Station Tea Party

Tammy Blair, past Cherokee County Republican Party Chairman, SD3 Elena Blake, President, Irving Republican Women Joanna Bowen, Secretary, Lake Country Republican Club Scott Bowen, Clear Lake TEA Party Trayce Bradford, President, Texas Eagle Forum

Judy Brady, President, Central Texas TEA Party Janie Brittain, Steering Committee Member, Garland Tea Party Stephen Broden, Founder/President, Protect Life & Marriage Texas KC Broyles, Vice President, Clear Lake Tea Party Wes Brumit, Voices of Conservatism and Liberty PAC (VOCAL)

Dennis Cable, Precinct Chair, Smith County GOP; past SREC SD 1

Adam Cahn, Austin political blogger, Cahnman’s Musings David Carter, Central Texas TEA Party; Bell County Election Judge, Prec. 311 Janice Carter, Chapter Leader, John Birch Society – Central Texas Cindi Castilla, President, Dallas Eagle Forum

Janna Castloo, Chair, Wood County Republican Party Ernie Clark, Past President, Grassroots America - We the People PAC Della Clark, Charter Member, Grassroots America - We the People PAC Stanley Cofer, Founder, Texas Minority Conservative & Republican Coalition Dr. Dwayne Collins, Founder & Chairman, Edom TEA Party

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Craig Cosgray, President, Highland Lakes Tea Party Bill Culpepper, GAWTP; Smith County GOP Executive Committee Connie Curry, Founder, West Texas Conservative Leadership

John Derr, Delta County Tea Party

Nancy Dillard, President, Denton County Conservative Coalition Don Dixon, longtime transportation reform activist & blogger Jim and Char Doonan, Lake Country Republicans, Wood County Carol Doucet, co-founder, Conservative Society of Navarro County & Navarro County TEA Party Terri DuBose, former State GOP Executive Committeewoman, SD 19 Jack Dubose, Chairman, Real County Republican Party Trevor Dupuy, Founder/Coordinator, Horseshoe Bay Conservative Caucus

Maria Espinoza, Co-Founder/National Director, The Remembrance Project Sue Evenwel, State Republican Executive Committeewoman, SD 1; Chair, Titus County GOP Toni and Tom Fabry, Chairman and Treasurer, Frisco TEA Party Dave and Mary Fallert, Steering committee, Kaufman County TEA Party Davis Ford, 1st Vice-President, Central Texas TEA Party Rebecca Forest, President, Women on the Wall

Rena and David French, Founder Patriot Members, Grassroots America – We the People PAC

Bill Gallagher, Primadata Liberty Center, Mabank Patty Gallagher, Primadata Liberty Center, Mabank Gary Gentz, Henderson County Tea Party

Suezette Griffin, past President, Clear Lake TEA Party Suzanne Guggenheim, President, Coastal Bend Tea Party Terri Hall, Founder/Director, Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom (TURF)

Barbara Harless, North Texas Citizens Lobby Marilyn Harris, Grassroots America - We the People PAC Joe Harrison, Founder and Organizer, Cass County Patriots Carole Haynes, Ph.D., founder, Citizens Matter; education reformer

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Mary and Dale Huls, Past President; current Executive Board members, Clear Lake TEA Party Bill Hussey, Founder and Vice President, Llano TEA Party Rick Jackson, Steering Committee, Kaufman County TEA Party

Joyce Jones, Board Member, Central Texas Tea Party

Robert Kecseg, State Republican Executive Committeeman, SD 1 Albert Kelln, Steering Committee Member, Llano Tea Party Sandra Kindt, Washington County Republican Party Chairman; Washington

County TEA Party Jackie King, Founder, Conservative Society of Navarro County Michael Kinzie, Founder, TEAParty911.com Rick Kirchhof, Steering Committee Member, Llano Tea Party

Larry Korkmas, Pres., Texans for Immigration Reduction & Enforcement (TFIRE) Robin and Jim Lennon, President and Director, Kingwood TEA Party, Inc. Craig Licciardi, Precinct Chair, Smith County Republican Party; Grassroots America - We the People PAC Matt Long, President, Fredericksburg TEA Party of Texas Dr. Ivette Lozano, former President, Dallas County Republican Assembly Karen Marsalis, President, Panola County Conservatives William Marsalis, Past President, Panola County Conservatives Maria Martinez, Houston Inner Loop Grassroots

Carroll Maxwell, Past President, Collin County Conservative Republicans Julie McCarty, President, NE Tarrant TEA Party Dennis McKee, PAC Treasurer, Kaufman County TEA Party Stacy McMahan, Executive Director/President, East Texans for Liberty Mark Metzger, Bexar County Tea Party Cindy Meyer, Charter Member, McKinney Tea Party Naomi Narvaiz, former State Republican Executive Committee, SD 21

Brian Newman, President, Collin Strong 7

Don Nurdin, President, Pachyderm Club of Galveston Island Michael Olcott, Co-founder, Parker County Conservatives Marian Phillips, Southwest Dallas County Republican Club; SREC SD 23 Rene Poe, Vice President, Hood County Tea Party Kathy Ponce, President, Freedom Tea Party Patriots Eugene Ralph Sr., Game Chaingers

Mark Ramsey, State Republican Executive Committeeman, SD 7

Pastor Marty Reid, Grassroots America - We the People PAC Fran Rhodes, Vice President NE Tarrant Tea Party Jeanette Rhodes Kalk, Treasurer/Director, San Antonio TEA Party Tanya Robertson, State Republican Executive Committeewoman, SD 11

Kat Rowoldt, Founder, Christian Reporter News Barry Schlech, PhD, past President, Texas Patriots Tea Party Josie D. Schoolcraft, President, Cherokee County Texas Republican Club Bryan Slaton, Conservative Grassroots Coalition, SD 2 Mike Slaton, Precinct Chair, Dallas County Republican Party Vicki Slaton, former (term limited) SREC SD 2; Grassroots Coalition SD 2 Jim Speiran, Past Board Member, Grassroots America - We the People PAC Joel Starnes, Executive Director, Organization for American Values

Barb Stauffer, Steering Committee Member, Garland Tea Party Heather Stoner, President, Smith County Republican Women Penny Story, Founder Constitutional Conservative Activists Dwayne Stovall, Director, Get Off My State LLC

Debbie Terry, State GOP Executive Committeewoman, Senate District 12

Kaaren Teuber, Coordinator, Texoma Patriots Jim Thompson, Conservative Grassroots Coalition, SD 2 Pat Tibbs, President, Montgomery County TEA Party PAC Bela Toth, Board Member, Pearland Tea Party Mildred Toth, Board Member, Pearland Tea Party Karl Voigtsberger, former State Republican Executive Committeeman, SD 8

Desiree Watts, Legislative Committee Chair, East Texans for Liberty

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Jimmy Weaver , Kaufman County Republican Party Chairman SFC Walter West II (RET), State Republican Executive Committeeman, SD 4 Brady Whatley, Flower Mound Area Republican Club Gary Whitehorn, We the People – Longview, SD 1 Maggie Wright, Founding member/past President, Texas Patriots TEA Party Ruth York, Vice President, Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County

Pastor Greg Young, Nationally Syndicated Radio host, Chosen Generation Rick Eisenbach, President, Grassroots America – We the People PAC Jeremiah Hunter, Chairman, We the People – Longview, SD 1 Brendan Bagnell, President, Texas Patriots TEA Party

Note: There are 136 political opinion leaders signed on in support of

this message to Governor Abbott. They represent 100 unique organizations and areas of influence across Texas.

The Texas Conservative Grassroots Coalition is the premier project of Grassroots America We the People PAC.

Paid for by Grassroots America - We the People PAC.

*Organizations listed for identification purposes only.