6 people are charged in a Texas elections investigation involving 'vote harvesting'

AUSTIN, Texas — Six people in a rural Texas county, including two City Council members and a school board trustee, have been indicted in a widening elections investigation led by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, bringing felony charges to a case that Latino rights activists have criticized as politically driven.

The top executive in Frio County, home to about 18,000 residents, a county elections worker and a local resident were also among those indicted on May 1, Paxton said Wednesday. The charges expand an investigation that included raids last year on the homes of Latino campaign volunteers near San Antonio, including an 87-year-old woman, although none of them have been indicted.

Most of the six are charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people's absentee ballots. Several of the officials indicted in Frio County are accused of using Cash App to pay for vote harvesting services.

''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,'' Paxton said in a statement.

The League of United Latin American Citizens last year called for a federal investigation into Texas authorities after its members' homes were raided. No charges have been filed against any targets of those searches, according to spokesperson David Cruz, and the organization said it had not made decisions on whether to represent those who were indicted.

Gabriel Rosales, the Texas director for LULAC, called the charges unsubstantiated.

''This is voter suppression 101,'' he said. ''There's no vote harvesting going on. There's nobody creating these ballots. That's a lie.''

The vote harvesting charges are third-degree felonies and carry up to 10 years in prison. Those accused are Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, the county's top official; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza; Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez; and Frio County resident Rosa Rodriguez.

Another official, former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura, is charged with tampering with evidence.

''The only word I have right now is that it's ridiculous,'' Segura said. He added that his lawyer advised him not to speak further.

Camacho, Trevino, Garza and Ramirez did not immediately respond to phone calls or an email requesting comment. A number could not be found for Rodriguez.

The indictments were the latest development in an investigation that Paxton started after the 2020 election to root out voter fraud, which is rare and typically occurs in isolated instances. Texas has tightened its voter laws in recent years and increased penalties that Democrats and opponents say are attempts to suppress turnout among Black and Latino voters.

Investigators with the Texas Attorney General's Office were first told of allegations of vote harvesting by Mary Moore, who was Camacho's opponent in the March 2022 Democratic primary for county judge, according to search warrant affidavits.

Moore accused Camacho of hiring a woman who had been collecting mail ballots for candidates in Frio County for nearly three decades. Moore alleged that the woman charged candidates anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 to collect mail ballots, applications for ballot by mail and to even drive people to vote curbside, according to the affidavit.

Investigators allege that the vote harvesting scheme targeted elderly people at a Pearsall subdivision. Camacho and Ramirez, who were identified in court documents as sisters, allegedly took part in an effort in October 2022 to gather mail-in ballots from residents there, according to the affidavit.

Investigators allege the woman who was Camacho's main vote harvester hid ballots underneath her shirt and used different vehicles ''to throw off investigators.''

Segura would provide the woman with information on when ballots were mailed and delivered, investigators allege.

A federal appeals court last year upheld the state's law that tightened voter restrictions and increased penalties for vote harvesting.

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Lozano contributed from Houston. Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.