Texas 2025 update: election integrity offenses

Texas election integrity offenses are governed by the Texas Penal Code and related statutes. Punishment ranges depending on the specific subsection, prior-conviction enhancements, and statutory aggravators. Below: the controlling statute text, the full punishment range, common defense theories, and what to do if you have been charged in Collin, Dallas, Denton, or Tarrant County.

The controlling statute

Texas has substantially restructured election-integrity criminal liability through Senate Bill 1 in 2021 and subsequent amendments through the 2025 sessions. The Election Code now criminalizes a range of conduct including illegal voting under Chapter 64, organized ballot harvesting under Chapter 276, voter intimidation under Chapter 273, election-worker obstruction, and chain-of-custody violations for ballots. Defendants and election officials alike should be aware of substantially enhanced penalties for conduct previously treated less seriously.

Classification & punishment range

Elements the State must prove

To convict on a Texas Election Code Chapters 64-276 (as amended) charge, the State must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Defendant engaged in conduct prohibited by a specific Election Code provision (illegal voting, ballot harvesting, intimidation, etc.)
2. Conduct occurred during a Texas-administered election period
3. Defendant acted with the culpable mental state required by the specific section (often knowingly or intentionally)
4. The conduct meets the quantity, value, or aggravator thresholds specified in the section
5. Statutory definitions of voter, ballot, polling place, and election worker are satisfied

Defense strategies

L and L Law Group, PLLC develops the following defense strategies on every 2025 Update: Election Integrity Offenses case:

• Challenge culpable mental state — many Election Code provisions require knowing or intentional conduct, and good-faith mistakes may be defensible
• First Amendment and Texas Constitution Article I, Section 8 protections for political speech, electioneering, and association
• Challenge specific definitional elements: whether the defendant was a voter, what constitutes assistance, what constitutes harvesting
• Vagueness and overbreadth challenges where the conduct alleged is at the margin of the statute
• Negotiate to lesser non-election offense where the Election Code element is weakly supported

Enhancements & collateral consequences

Repeat violations, conduct affecting multiple ballots, conduct by election officials, and assault on or interference with election workers carry enhanced penalties. The 2025 framework has heightened attention to organized ballot-collection conduct under Chapter 276 with mandatory minimum confinement in some scenarios. Federal cross-charges under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242, 594, 597 may apply to certain conduct.