Hundreds of Texans may have voted improperly in US election

Officials in Texas acknowledged that hundreds of people bypassed voter ID laws and improperly cast ballots in the presidential election last year.

Voters signed a sworn statement instead of showing ID on November 8, Fox News reported.

The chief election officers in two of Texas' largest counties are considering whether to refer cases to prosecutors for possible charges.

Officials in many other areas said they would let the mistakes go, adding there was widespread confusion among workers and voters.

The law requires voters to show one of seven approved forms of identification.

The affidavit process was adopted after an appeals court ruled the voter ID law discriminated against minorities.

The change was intended to help voters who could not obtain identification for a variety of reasons, including disability or illness, lack of transportation or conflicts with work schedules.

The revelations come as Trump has made frequent claims that the voting systems in the US were vulnerable to fraud.

Questionable affidavits were identified in over 20 counties around the state.

Election officials were not permitted to question a voter's reasoning for signing an affidavit, under a court order issued last year.

Nearly nine million Texans cast ballots in the presidential election, according to state data, and Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by more than 800,000 votes statewide.

That means the hundreds of disputed ballots could never have made a difference in the outcome at the top of the ticket.

--IANS

py/vt