The Texas 13th Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that overturned a November 2023 election in Edinburg due to illegal votes.

In that election, incumbent David White received 10 more votes than Gerardo "Gerry" Lozano for the Place 4 commissioner seat.

Lozano filed a lawsuit alleging that several illegal votes were cast for White.

Following a May 2024 trial, a district judge ruled that enough illegal votes were cast for White to affect the election results, and declared Lozano the true winner of the election.

White appealed the decision, and the 13th Court of Appeals issued an opinion on Monday in favor of the previous ruling.

“We affirm the trial court’s judgment,” the appeals court said in their opinion. “We conclude that the trial court’s findings of fact in this case shed light on the events that transpired at trial, which are extremely troubling to the sanctity of our electoral process and undermine the purity of the ballot. As this court stated, election fraud perverts democracy and constitutes a grave offense, not only against the opposing candidate but against society as a whole.”

White remains on the Edinburg city council.

In a statement released on Thursday, a spokesperson for the city of Edinburg said they will have a formal swearing-in ceremony for Lozano on Wednesday, July 16.

“The city of Edinburg acknowledges the recent ruling by the 13th Court of Appeals,” the city said in the statement. “The city has been advised that both parties have come to an agreement, and Councilman David White will not appeal the decision.”