[ad_1]
AUSTIN, Texas — A Latino voting rights group known as Monday for a federal investigation after its volunteers mentioned Texas authorities raided their houses and seized telephones and computer systems as a part of an investigation by the state’s Republican lawyer common into allegations of voter fraud.
No fees have been filed in opposition to any targets of the searches that passed off final week within the San Antonio space. Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton beforehand confirmed his workplace had performed searches after a neighborhood prosecutor referred to his workplace “allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting” through the 2022 election.
Some volunteers whose houses 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 drugs, alongside along with her smartphone and watch, railed outdoors an lawyer common’s workplace in San Antonio in opposition to 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 houses searched, Palomares mentioned. They included Manuel Medina, a San Antonio political advisor, who claimed his dwelling 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 Celebration and is engaged on the marketing campaign of Democratic state Home candidate Cecilia Castellano, whose dwelling 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, all the pieces,” Martinez mentioned, and interrogated her about different members, together with Medina.
The search warrant ordered officers to look any paperwork associated to the election and to confiscate Martinez’s gadgets.
“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 Related Press investigation of the 2020 presidential election discovered fewer than 475 potential instances of voter fraud out of 25.5 million ballots solid within the six states the place Trump and his allies disputed his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
[ad_2]
Source link
