LULAC, the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization, is one of several Texas groups targeted in a voter fraud investigation led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to information obtained by CBS News.
In a letter first obtained by CBS News, LULAC called on the Department of Justice to investigate Paxton’s office for violations of the Voting Rights Act, accusing the group of running an illegal investigation under the guise of voter fraud.
“These actions reflect a troubling history of voter suppression and intimidation that has long targeted both Black and Latino communities in states like Texas, where demographic changes are increasingly shifting the political landscape,” LULAC CEO Juan Proano and the group’s national president, Roman Palomares, said in the letter.
The Justice Department confirmed it had received the letter but declined to comment further.
Last week, Paxton’s office announced in a press release that it was launching an undercover investigation and investigation into reports that several organizations in Texas were illegally registering foreign nationals to vote in violation of state and federal law.
A LULAC official told CBS News that some of the group’s Texas members were targeted and had laptops and cellphones confiscated by Texas authorities who executed search warrants, some of which were focused on Latino activists in the state.
“Attorney General Paxton has used his power to harass and intimidate Latino nonprofits like LULAC, Latino Leaders and LULAC members,” LULAC CEO Juan Proano told CBS News, calling the state attorney general’s efforts “blatant” voter intimidation. “His pattern of lawsuits, raids, searches and seizures makes it clear he is trying to stop Latinos from voting.”
One of those targeted, Proano said, was 87-year-old Lydia Martinez of San Antonio, who has been a member of LULAC for more than 35 years and works to expand voter registration among seniors and veterans in South Texas.
Martinez said he heard a knock on his door last Tuesday morning and was greeted by nine officers in tactical gear and with firearms who said they were executing a search warrant. He was questioned for more than three hours about voter registration efforts in Texas.
Police seized Martinez’s cellphone, computer, personal calendar, blank voter registration forms and a certificate to register to vote, Martinez said.
“This is a free country. This is not Russia,” Martinez said at a news conference Monday condemning the attack.
Manuel Medina, chairman of the Tejano Democratic Party, was among the LULAC members targeted, LULAC’s CEO said. LULAC officials said officers in riot gear stormed Medina’s home last Thursday and broke down the door.
Paxton’s office said in a news release that the undercover investigation led by its Election Integrity Unit will continue. The Texas Attorney General’s Office said it was referred by 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Lewis about “allegations of election fraud and vote stuffing occurring during the 2022 election.” The release added that the two-year investigation “gave rise to sufficient evidence to obtain a search warrant.”
The unit was created after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Biden with the goal of investigating allegations of voter fraud across the state, even as Trump administration officials said the election was secure.
“My office investigates all credible reports of potential criminal activity that could undermine the integrity of our elections,” Paxton said. “The Biden-Harris Administration is intentionally allowing illegal immigrants into our country, and without proper safeguards, foreign nationals could illegally influence our elections at the local, state and national levels.”
Robert Legare contributed to this report.
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