A leading Latino voting organization has called for a federal investigation into recent election fraud raids conducted across Texas under the direction of Attorney General Ken Paxton. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has raised concerns about the raids, which targeted notable Democrats and elderly election volunteers. According to LULAC, investigators seized personal devices, including cell phones and computers, and subjected individuals to undue distress.
LULAC’s Lupe Torres has urged the Justice Department to launch a thorough and transparent probe into the circumstances leading to these armed raids. The raids reportedly included the detention of Lydia Martinez, an 80-year-old retired teacher, who was reportedly removed from her home in her nightgown, facing public humiliation. Martinez’s personal belongings and voter registration materials were confiscated, and she was allegedly pressured to reveal her passwords.
LULAC’s CEO, Juan Proaño, condemned the raids as unfounded, asserting that no substantial evidence of voter fraud or harvesting was presented to support the warrants. He highlighted that such allegations are not supported by evidence and criticized the basis of these raids as baseless.
In contrast, Attorney General Paxton defended the raids, citing “sufficient evidence” of election fraud as justification for the search warrants. The investigation stemmed from a county prosecutor’s referral of alleged election fraud and vote harvesting cases to Paxton’s office.
The timing of the raids coincided with Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement regarding the removal of over a million names from the state’s voter rolls since 2021, which included nearly half a million deceased individuals and over 6,500 non-citizens. While Abbott’s office stated that these updates are routine, Proaño argues that the small number of non-citizens among the removed registrants indicates that voter fraud is not widespread.
The Justice Department has acknowledged receipt of LULAC’s letter but has not yet indicated whether it will take further action regarding the matter.