Former Democratic state House candidate among nine indicted for alleged vote harvesting in South Texas

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A South Texas grand jury this week reportedly indicted nine people, including the former chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party and a former Texas House candidate, for alleged vote harvesting in a sprawling investigation led by Attorney General Ken Paxton that has targeted Latino Democrats in the state.

Among the indicted were Manuel Medina, who once led Bexar County Democrats and served as a legislative aide, as well as Cecilia Castellano, who lost a bid last year to represent a district that includes Frio County in the Legislature’s lower chamber, according to KSAT, which first reported the development Wednesday.

The indictments add to six previous ones revealed by Paxton in May and are the latest escalation in a probe that last year resulted in search warrants that led Texas authorities to seize Castellano’s phone and raid Medina’s home.

At the time, Latino leaders in Texas condemned the moves while Democratic state lawmakers asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the state for potential violations of federal law and civil and voting rights amid a flurry of what Republican state leaders described as efforts to secure the state’s elections.

On Thursday, neither Paxton’s office nor 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis returned requests for comment. KSAT attributed the information in its report to Louis.

Castellano turned herself into authorities on Wednesday upon learning of two charges of vote harvesting leveled against her, her lawyer Don Flanary said. He professed his client’s innocence and questioned the government’s allegations in using a charge whose constitutionality is unsettled in courts.

In September, a federal judge ruled that certain prohibitions of voter outreach efforts in the Texas law were unconstitutionally vague and restricted free speech. But the New Orleans 5th Circuit appeals court overturned the decision when Paxton’s office appealed it.

“Cecilia is innocent. She didn’t do anything illegal and I don’t think they are going to be able to prove it,” Flanary said by telephone, dismissing the prosecutions as “plainly” politically motivated. “The problem is it’s very chilling for people.”

He added: “It's highly inappropriate, in my opinion, to be filing these charges now when the 5th Circuit is going to rule about whether the activity is even a crime. … These people aren't charged with voter fraud. These people aren’t charged with the traditional ways that it's illegal to get votes or do voter fraud.”

Medina did not immediately return a call Thursday. Neither did his lawyer.

The others charged include the former mayors of Pearsall and Dilley and other local elected officials from those cities and Frio County, according to KSAT. Some of them were the targets of search warrants executed by Paxton’s office in May, according to the San Antonio news station.

Many were distraught by the allegations, Gabriel Rosales, League of United Latin American Citizens’ Texas director, said in a brief interview.

LULAC last year raised alarms about the raids in August in which authorities also targeted the homes of elderly volunteers with guns drawn in early morning hours, the group and targets said.

“It's very disappointing that they would want to continue to go on with this witchhunt,” Rosales said. “They're literally in tears.”

The extent of the allegations is not clear. The Tribune could not get copies of the indictments on Thursday. Frio County District Clerk Ofilia M. Trevino said they were not yet available online.

Search warrants obtained by the Tribune last year following the raids showed that authorities were investigating allegations that a longtime Frio County political operator had illegally harvested votes for multiple local races in recent years.

Vote harvesting, or the collection of ballots, is a term used by many Republicans to refer to the process of designating someone else to return a completed voter's ballot to election officials. The practice is permissible under federal law but numerous states have passed legislation to restrict it, including not letting the ballot collector be compensated or placing a limit on the number of ballots a person can collect, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The charges leveled by Paxton’s office this spring were under a 2021 state law that made it a third-degree felony for a person to knowingly provide or offer “vote harvesting services” — or the collection of ballots — in exchange for compensation, unless the person is employed as a caregiver for a voter who is eligible to vote by mail.

That includes Texans who are 65 or older on Election Day or who are unable to vote in person due to illness or be away from their county throughout the entire election. Under the law, organizers of voter outreach groups and volunteers could spend up to 10 years in prison and be fined up to $10,000 for offering these services.

“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system,” Paxton said in a May statement. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

Disclosure: National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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