Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced indictments and arrests for several public officials for matters related to election crimes and a vote-harvesting scheme.
“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Paxton said in a statement. “My office will continue to work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to protect the integrity of our elections.”
The charges stem from an investigation launched in August 2024 as part of a “multi-year election integrity investigation into credible allegations of vote harvesting,” a press release explains.
While most of the indictments pertain to vote harvesting, one of the individuals, Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Carlos Segura, has been indicted on one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Segura called the matter “ridiculous,” although he noted his lawyer advised him not to speak on the subject further.
Several of those indicted are accused of using Cash App to pay for the vote harvesting, the Associated Press reported.
The Texas director for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) said Paxton’s actions are a show of “voter suppression.”
“This is voter suppression 101,” he said. “There’s no vote harvesting going on. There’s nobody creating these ballots. That’s a lie.”
At the time of executing the search warrants, Paxton declared that secure elections are the “cornerstone of our republic.”
“We were glad to assist when the District Attorney referred this case to my office for investigation,” he said. “We are completely committed to protecting the security of the ballot box and the integrity of every legal vote. This means ensuring accountability for anyone committing election crimes.”
