Pro-Trump Texas AG orders raids on homes of Democrats over ‘voter fraud’

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing counteraction from a voting rights organization after ordering his office to execute search warrants on Democratic candidates and election volunteers for what he claims is part of an “election integrity” investigation.

Last week, Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit raided the homes of several people in Southern Texas, including some residents in their 80s, claiming it was part of a sprawling investigation into allegations of “vote harvesting” and “election fraud” that he says happened during the 2022 election.

Phones, laptops and documents were collected from individuals’ homes, leaving some shaken.

Now, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), one of the oldest and largest Latino rights organizations in the country, has asked the Department of Justice to investigate Paxton’s raids.

“Paxton is working to suppress the Latino vote using a call for election integrity as a veil for voter intimidation,” Roman Palomares, the president of LULAC said in apress conference on Monday.

The raids, while allegedly part of a two-year-long election integrity investigation, targeted residents like Lydia Martinez, an 87-year-old retired educator living in San Antonio who works in the community to help older residents stay engaged in politics.

Martinez has been a member of LULAC for 35 years and is certified by the state to register voters, Palomares said.

Officers went to Martinez’s home at 6 a.m. last Tuesday with a search warrant, demanding she hand over voter cards that she did not possess, rifling through her belongings and eventually confiscating her laptop and cell phone. Officers interrogated her for three hours.

A similar raid was carried out on the home of Cecilia Castellano,