AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A Latino rights group called for a federal investigation Monday after its volunteers said Texas authorities raided their homes and seized phones and computers in the state’s Republican attorney general’s investigation into voter fraud allegations.
No charges have been filed against the subject of last week’s searches in the San Antonio area. Attorney General Ken Paxton previously confirmed that his office had conducted the searches after a local prosecutor cited his office for “allegations of election fraud and vote-rigging” during the 2022 election.
Some volunteers whose homes were searched, including an 80-year-old woman who told co-workers that agents were at her home for two hours and took medication and her smartphone and watch, ran outside the San Antonio district attorney’s office. searches.
“We feel like our voices are being suppressed,” Roman Palomares, national president of the United Latin American Citizens, said Monday. “We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
The investigation is part of the Election Integrity Unit, which Paxton established in his office. Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The federal Department of Justice declined to comment.
Palomares said the homes of at least six members were searched. Among them was Manuel Medina, a San Antonio political consultant who claimed his home was searched for several hours as agents seized documents, computers and cellphones. Medina is a former director of the Bexar County Democratic Party and works on the campaign of Democratic state House candidate Cecilia Castellano, whose home was also searched.
Nine officers also went to the home of volunteer Lidia Martinez, 80, who said she was confused about why they were there.
“They sat me down and started searching my whole house, my warehouse, my garage, my kitchen, everything,” Martinez said, questioning him about other members, including Medina.
The search warrant ordered authorities to search all documents related to the election and seize Martinez’s equipment.
“I’m not doing anything illegal,” Martinez told agents. “I only help the elderly.”
Voter fraud is rare, typically isolated and usually detected. An Associated Press investigation into the 2020 presidential election found fewer than 475 cases of possible voter fraud among 25.5 million ballots cast in six states where Trump and his allies contested his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
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Lathan is a member of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on classified issues.
