Michael J. Truncale, one of President Trump’s judicial nominees, said Wednesday he’s personally witnessed incidents of voter fraud while serving as an election judge in Texas.
He made the revelation under questioning by Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Democrat, who objected to comments Mr. Truncale had made in 2014 about the prevalence of voter fraud. She said the problem is not widespread.
Mr. Truncale, a Texas lawyer who previously ran for Congress in 2012 and is now Mr. Trump’s pick for a district judgeship, said he couldn’t say how widespread the problem is, but said he’d seen instances in Jefferson County.
“I was once an election judge and had people from other states come by wanting to vote and I denied their ballot because they weren’t even Texans, or properly registered, so I’ve seen that,” Mr. Truncale said.
He told Ms. Hirono his views on voter fraud wouldn’t affect his judicial rulings.
“It’s a factual matter. It’s not a political matter,” Ms. Hirono responded. “Judges have to make their decisions based on facts.”
Mr. Trump made voter fraud an issue during the 2016 elections, claiming three to five million illegal ballots were cast that cost him the popular vote to his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
He created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to investigate the issue, but disbanded the commission after it was hounded by lawsuits.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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