Ken Paxton may be just another mid-divorce dad, kicked out of the house because of an affair and struggling with the details of dividing up the shared property acquired during a decades-long marriage. He may have been so distracted he lost track of a bit of trivial paperwork like updating the address on his voter registration. Such things happen. But then again, he is a lawyer. And not just ...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a campaign event at Matt's Rancho Martinez on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Allen, Texas.

Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Ken Paxton may be just another mid-divorce dad, kicked out of the house because of an affair and struggling with the details of dividing up the shared property acquired during a decades-long marriage. He may have been so distracted he lost track of a bit of trivial paperwork like updating the address on his voter registration. Such things happen.

But then again, he is a lawyer. And not just any lawyer, but the attorney general for the great state of Texas, a man who has claimed that voting irregularities are rampant here, from mail-in ballot fraud to noncitizens imperiling election integrity.

Paxton created an election integrity unit in 2022 and convinced the Legislature last year to give his office the power to prosecute election offenses, an authority previously reserved for local law enforcement and prosecutors. Local jurisdictions will also have to turn over all their information about alleged voting crimes if the AG wants it. He even established an email “tipline” where Texans could report suspected violations of election law.

That tipline must have been inundated with emails last week, when the news organizations ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton appears to have voted six times using an invalid address.

The news sites compared information in his divorce filings with his voting record; reporters confirmed in multiple ways that he was not living at the address on his voter registration form when he voted. He had apparently moved to Denton County but voted using the Collin County address of the house he formerly shared with his estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.

Texans must use the address where they currently live on their voter registrations because that address determines which races they are eligible to vote in. For example, an Irving resident cannot cast a ballot in a Richardson City Council contest. The main exceptions to the rule are members of the military and college students who expect to return to the address on their registration.

Paxton has already disgraced himself and embarrassed his family; it would be better for Texas if he’d slink out of the spotlight and consider repentance. But his indiscretions keep intruding into his public duties. And his voter base appears indifferent to actions they would treat as political poison from those who don’t share their ideology.

Meanwhile, Paxton is corroding our corner of American democracy for political gain. The Republican Party, currently led by amoral opportunists like him, has made voter fraud seem as common as shoplifting. It isn’t. It’s exceedingly rare, as investigation after investigation has confirmed.

When there are evidence-backed allegations of election wrong-doing, Texans should want them investigated thoroughly and impartially. The allegations against Paxton are credible even if the alleged “crime” is one that plenty of people, amid a major life change, might commit.

Attorney General Paxton set the standard — every allegation of voter fraud must be pursued and assessed the heaviest possible penalties. But in our state and nation today, who is there to police this lawman?

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