Voter Fraud Charges Endanger Texas Mayor, Topple Another in NJ

In a tale of two city mayors arrested last week on vote fraud charges, one resigned while the other says a jury will decide.

Edinburg, Texas, Mayor Richard Molina doesn’t plan to go anywhere. Molina won the mayor’s race in November 2017 by 1,240 votes. But on April 25, Texas Rangers arrested the mayor and his wife, Dalia, alleging the couple ran a vote fraud scheme to put him in office.

After about a week of silence, the mayor said Thursday the charges won’t affect his job, and asked Edinburg residents to respect his constitutional rights to due process.

“We respectfully deny any criminal wrongdoing and look forward to defending ourselves in the proper venue. That is a courtroom,” Molina said in the video statement. “These charges will not affect my ability to perform the people’s work as your mayor. I only ask that you respect our constitutional right to a fair trial and due process.”

Prosecutors allege the Edinburg mayor and his wife had numerous voters change their address to places they didn’t live, including an apartment complex the mayor owns, so they could vote for him in the Nov. 7, 2017, race. Those who moved included paid campaign workers.

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