Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) sent a letter on Wednesday to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and two influential state legislators encouraging them to pass election integrity legislation currently under consideration in the Texas State Legislature that includes several specific safeguards.

Breitbart News obtained an exclusive preview of the letter in which Roy states:

As you consider measures to protect the integrity of Texas elections, please know you have many friends in Congress who will support you, and please know how important it is for Texas to lead that fight as we watch states around the country taking steps to strengthen their election laws. As we have seen the momentum building for election security laws, it has been greeted by many “leaders,” woke corporations, and “voter suppression” mobs with efforts to stop these common-sense reforms. These efforts have spanned from misinformation campaigns, to corporate boycotts, and big business decisions to relocate sports games to new states.

Texas should not fall idle to any of these attempts aimed at mischaracterizing and attacking election security. Despite the spread of misinformation and self-indulging virtue-signaling by corporations, Texans know the truth: election reforms are a necessary, common-sense step to ensuring our elections are protected against potential fraud. Data clearly shows that voter fraud is an issue in elections, and any amount of fraud is too much fraud.  As you know, since 2005, the Office of Attorney General (OAG) has successfully prosecuted 534 instances of fraud against 155 individuals. The OAG has 510 pending offenses against 43 individuals, and 234 active investigations. Additionally, at least 91 election fraud cases in Texas from 2005-2019 resulted in criminal convictions, sentencing to a diversion program, or judicial findings.

“It is critical the Texas state legislature passes this session all reforms necessary to safeguard elections and inspire confidence in Texas voters,” Roy continues later in the letter:

As you know, there are several pieces of legislation being circulated in the chamber including House Bill 6 and Senate Bill 7, introduced by my friends Briscoe Cain and Bryan Hughes, respectively. I was honored to testify in favor of House Bill 6 – and I did so because I believe you all need to know Members of Congress, and millions of Texans have your back in the face of woke, corporate mobs threatening and attacking you. . .

Additionally, but as importantly as anything, House Bill 2478 which requires voter identification for absentee ballots represents a crucial provision in ensuring election integrity. These bills would create a more secure, more uniform voting process in Texas that maintains access for all voters.

“Regardless of which legislative vehicles receive a final vote on the floor,” Roy continues, “I strongly encourage the legislature to put forth final bill text, taken in totality or in a single vehicle, for the Governor that includes safeguards for elections, including but not limited to:

Breitbart News pressed Rep. Roy on one element of the recommended election security safeguards identified in his letter.

Specifically, Breitbart News asked why Rep. Roy did not specifically request the Texas State Legislature enact an outright ban on all private funding of election administration to any state, county, or municipal agency in the state, as Arizona has in one recently enacted election integrity law.

“Congressman Roy supports a full ban on private funding for local election administration and has previously called for such a ban in public correspondence on the issue,” a spokesperson from Congressman Roy’s office told Breitbart News.

“This particular letter [to Speaker Phelan and Lt. Gov. Patrick] says ‘including but not limited to’ and the oversight portion should be read as a bare minimum, not a maximum,” the spokesperson added.

In March, Roy wrote, “Texas may not have experienced the same election fiascos seen elsewhere, but there is still work to do in our state. While I am in constant contact with legislators in Austin on this issue, they also need to hear from folks like you on the principles like: Banning private funding to local election administration, Eliminating insecure ballot drop boxes, [and] Ensuring accurate voter rolls.”

“While the media spin on this has grown louder, I stand with each of you to tune out the noise and remain focused on the goal of making it easy to vote and hard to cheat in the great state of Texas. All lawmakers should support these important reforms and put the minds of Texans at ease by restoring confidence in the election process,” Roy concluded in his letter on Wednesday to Texas House Speaker Phelan and Lt. Gov. Patrick.

You can read the complete letter here:

Rep. Chip Roy – Election Security Ltr. 05.05.21 by Breitbart News on Scribd