AUSTIN, Texas — A Latino voting rights group known as Monday for a federal investigation after its volunteers mentioned Texas authorities raided their properties and seized telephones and computer systems as a part of an investigation by the state’s Republican lawyer basic into allegations of voter fraud.
No expenses have been filed towards any targets of the searches that came about final week within the San Antonio space. Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton beforehand confirmed his workplace had carried out searches after a neighborhood prosecutor referred to his workplace “allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting” in the course of the 2022 election.
Some volunteers whose properties have been searched, together with an 80-year-old girl who advised her associates that brokers have been at her home for 2 hours and took medication, alongside along with her smartphone and watch, railed outdoors an lawyer basic’s workplace in San Antonio towards the searches.
“We really feel like our votes are being suppressed,” Roman Palomares, nationwide president of the League of United Latin American Residents, mentioned Monday. “We’re going to unravel it.”
The investigation is a part of an Election Integrity Unit that Paxton fashioned in his workplace. Paxton’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to emails in search of remark. The federal Justice Division declined to remark.
No less than six members had their properties searched, Palomares mentioned. They included Manuel Medina, a San Antonio political advisor, who claimed his residence was looked for a number of hours whereas brokers seized paperwork, computer systems and cellphones. Medina is the previous head of the Bexar County Democratic Get together and is engaged on the marketing campaign of Democratic state Home candidate Cecilia Castellano, whose residence was additionally searched.
9 officers additionally entered the house of volunteer Lidia Martinez, 80, who mentioned she expressed confusion about why they have been there.
“They sat me down they usually began looking all my home, my retailer room, my storage, kitchen, every little thing,” Martinez mentioned, and interrogated her about different members, together with Medina.
The search warrant ordered officers to go looking any paperwork associated to the election and to confiscate Martinez’s units.
“I’m not doing something unlawful,” Martinez mentioned she advised brokers. “All I do is assist the seniors.”
Voter fraud is uncommon, sometimes happens in remoted cases and is usually detected. An Associated Press investigation of the 2020 presidential election discovered fewer than 475 potential instances of voter fraud out of 25.5 million ballots forged within the six states the place Trump and his allies disputed his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
