Maroc - RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 20/Aug 17:42

Maria Bartiromo's latest voter fraud conspiracy theory debunked by Texas Republican

A Texas Republican was forced to eat his own words after investigating Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo's latest false claims of an election fraud attempt in his state involving a "massive line of immigrants."Brady Gray, chairman of the Parker County Republican Party, delivered on X Monday night a lengthy debunking of the claims Bartiromo shared on her social media account and her television show."The Parker County GOP has spent the last 24 hours investigating the claims made by Maria Bartiromo," Gray wrote. "While these claims seemed strange from the onset, I take every claim of election fraud or interference very seriously."Bartiromo's claims involved a friend of a friend's wife whom the Fox host said had taken her son to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Weatherford, Fort Worth and North Fort Worth, Texas. According to the friend of a friend's wife, whom Bartiromo did not name, both sites "had a massive line of immigrants getting licenses and had a tent and table outside the front door of the DMV registering them to vote!" Gray responded with a list of facts, among them that there were no tents, as such structures are not allowed.1. While we are everyday registering more voters in Parker county, there has been no large submission of registrants consistent with the claim. 2. All voter registration applications in the county are processed by the county EA office (County Voter Registrar) and are uploaded to SOS to verify the applicants eligibility to vote (i.e. citizenship, etc.). Not only have there been no recent instances of ineligible individuals attempting to register in Parker county, there have only been two in the last 15 years. 3. The DPS office has confirmed that there have been no tents or tables and no one registering voters on their premises, and that if it were the case they would be told to leave, as it is not allowed.Gray concluded the story was false but urged citizens to remain vigilant. "Talk to your friends and neighbors," Gray wrote. "Make sure they’re registered to vote, and know when and where to vote."ALSO READ: Why Trump won't win WisconsinBartiromo's claim remained on X two days after it was initially posted and more than 12 hours after Gray delivered his fact check. The Fox News host had not publicly responded to his tweet as of 1:15 p.m. ET Tuesday. Gray appears to have believed Bartiromo's claim at the onset of his investigation, which began after he became "inundated" with calls, texts and direct messages asking if he was aware of the problem he later found did not exist. Initially, Gray lambasted Vice President Kamala Harris for border patrol policies during President Joe Biden's administration."I’m done listening to those who claim 'replacement theory' is racist and conspiratorial," Gray wrote Sunday night. "Democrats are intentionally trying to circumvent law to steal elections. That’s not hyperbole, it’s a fact."Experts link the great replacement theory — which warns white people without evidence of a plot to dismantle their global influence — to a deadly 2022 shooting in Buffalo that cost 10 people their lives.Gray later hedged his comment to limit its import to his own county."To be clear, my statement should not be taken as the case throughout the state," Gray said. "I cannot speak for other areas, only what I’ve investigated in Parker county specifically."