Dallas County prosecutors are investigating whether someone committed fraud in the handling of more than 1,200 mail-in ballot applications for the 2018 elections.

The applications, which came from West Dallas, Grand Prairie and parts of Oak Cliff, generated 459 ballots that were considered by a county board that reviews provisional and questionable ballots. The ballots came from the same areas where voter fraud was alleged in municipal elections last year.

"Some of the applications were suspicious because they were filled out in September and October of 2017, but not submitted for a mail-in ballot until January and February of 2018," said Andy Chatham, an assistant Dallas County district attorney.

Chatham didn't comment further because the investigation in ongoing. Last month state District Judge Carl Ginsberg gave the district attorney's office permission to examine the ballot applications.

No person has been accused of a crime, and unlike in last year's municipal elections, not one voter has notified the district attorney's office or elections department of mail-in ballot abuse.

Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole said the applications were turned over to the district attorney after warning signs were seen, including the dates of the applications and when they were turned into the elections department. She said, on several instances, hundreds of ballots were mailed at one time to the department in a single Federal Express box.

"Those kinds of things are suspicious to us," Pippins-Poole said.

Of the suspicious applications, four of the potential voters were dead. Pippins-Poole didn't know that exact time of their deaths but said one person had been dead for several years.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said her office would work hard to make sure the mail-in ballot process was not abused.

"We want to let people know that we are serious," Johnson said Monday. "It's not about a political party. People have the right to have their votes counted."

History of mail-in ballot fraud

Last year, 700 mail-in ballots in the May municipal elections in Dallas and Grand Prairie were deemed suspicious because they were linked to the same witness, "Jose Rodriguez."

Senior citizens in both cities reported receiving mail-in ballots that they never requested -- meaning their signatures had been forged. Some said they were also visited by a pushy man claiming to work for the county who wanted to collect their ballots.

One suspect was arrested in the case: Miguel Hernandez, 27. A West Dallas woman identified Hernandez as the man who collected her unfilled ballot, which then arrived at the county filled out in support of a candidate, with the name "Jose Rodriguez" as a witness. The district attorney's office is still investigating whether others were involved in the scheme.

In response to the controversy, the Texas Legislature and Dallas County Commissioners enacted new policies to curb mail-in voter fraud and the abuse of elderly voters.

Under the new county rules, candidates must be officially filed to run before their campaigns can obtain 200 absentee ballot applications. Mail-in ballots can be used by voters age 65 and older; disabled voters; people who are out of the county during early voting and election time; and those confined in jail but still eligible to vote.

Under a new state law, penalties for election crimes would be increased to the next-highest offense level. Misdemeanors will become felonies, and low-level felonies would get an upgrade.

Fines associated with the crimes also would increase. Fraudulent use of a ballot, for instance, would rise from a state jail felony to a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The law is aimed at cracking down on those who target people over the age of 65 for ballot fraud. It also places tougher penalties on repeat offenders or people who commit multiple offenses during the same election.

Little impact on March primaries

The setting aside of the mail-in ballot applications and subsequent review of the ballots generated from them is expected to have little bearing on most of the elections held in Dallas County.

In the race for Dallas County district attorney, former state District Judge Elizabeth Frizell is expected to seek a recount of her contest with former state District Judge John Creuzot.

According to unofficial totals, Creuzot beat Frizell by 612 votes. At 5 p.m. Monday elections officials will no longer accept absentee ballots, including those from overseas. With less than 200 provisional ballots in question, it doesn't appear Frizell will overtake Creuzot before an official canvass and potential recount.

Frizell, however, has expressed concerned about the suspicious ballots and their applications.

But votes, even from faulty applications, are accepted if they are deemed to be from an eligible voter.