AUSTIN, Texas — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded to former president Donald Trump’s request for Gov. Greg Abbott to add an election audit bill to the current special session agenda. In a wide-ranging interview on Capital Tonight Thursday, Patrick said voters want to know the process is fair. 

What You Need To Know

  • Patrick said voters want to know the process is fair 

  • Trump won Texas but has continued his push to cast doubts on the 2020 election results 

  • Elections officials across the country said ther is no evidence of widespread voter fraud

  • Patrick also refuted criticism from Democrats about the redistricting process 

“Democrats should want it if you think about it,” he said. “If they say there is no voter fraud here or anywhere, why are they worried about a count?”  

In a letter published Thursday, Trump said “Texans have big questions about the November 2020 Elections,” and time is running out to conduct an audit of the “Presidential Election Scam” adding that paper ballots are kept for only 22 months after an election.

Trump won Texas but has continued his push to cast doubts on the 2020 election results despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud. This summer, Texas Republicans passed a voting law they said would make it "easier to vote and harder to cheat." But opponents say it'll make it harder for communities of color to cast a ballot.

When asked whether he thinks President Joe Biden won the election, Patrick said he accepts the results but that there are still a lot of unknowns in battleground states.  

“I think the total of the election at the end of the day is unknown,” he said. “I know president Trump won Texas, but at the end of the day I accept the results of the election.”  

On the redistricting process playing out at the Texas Legislature, Patrick refuted criticism from Democrats about the proposed state senate map released last weekend. In three districts, there’s a decrease in the minority population and an increase in the number of white voters to make them more favorable for Republicans. Census data shows 95 percent of Texas’ growth was among communities of color.

“We’re going to draw fair and legal maps but we’ve had population shifts dramatically in Texas,” Patrick said. “You have to draw the maps the best you can to come up with the population number that’s required under the law.”

The Texas Senate this week passed a bill that would restrict transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. The legislation is a top priority of Patrick’s but has failed to get a vote in the House so far.

“If the [Texas House] Speaker sends it back to the same committee with a Democratic chair, I don’t know that it will come out,” he said of the bill’s prospects this third special session. “I can predict this, if it gets to the [House] floor, it will pass overwhelmingly with Republicans.”

Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Lt. Gov. Patrick.