Texans encouraged to report suspected voting violations through AG Ken Paxton’s new effort
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an email address Wednesday for the public to submit tips about possible election law violations in the lead-up to November’s elections.
The attorney general issued guidance highlighting that a voter must be a U.S. citizen and Texas resident to cast a legal ballot and that vote harvesting, a process in which third parties collect and deliver ballots, is a felony.
“Your political liberties and your representation in our government depend on secure elections,” Paxton said in a statement. “I will fight every step of the way to protect your vote and your voice.”
The move comes a day after a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to the Dallas Morning News it received a letter requesting an investigation into armed raids Paxton launched last week at homes in South Texas, including those of LULAC members. Officials from LULAC said the raids were an attempt to suppress Latino voters.
On Wednesday, Paxton encouraged reporting potential violations to the attorney general’s office at the new email address — illegalvoting@oag.texas.gov — or with the secretary of state’s office, a local district attorney or a local law enforcement agency.
“Significant growth of the noncitizen population in Texas and a pattern of partisan efforts to illegally weaponize voter registration and the voting process to manipulate electoral outcomes have created urgent risks to local, state, and federal elections,” according to the guidance.
The guidance warns Texans to be wary of those offering to help with mail-in ballots or other aspects of voting, casting the practice as a “deceptive” action that could influence a voter to support a specific candidate.
The tip line and guidance mark the latest moves by Republican Texas officials to crack down on potential illegal voting.
Paxton announced an investigation last week into reports that unnamed organizations may be illegally registering noncitizens to vote outside driver’s license offices. He said his office’s Election Integrity Unit executed search warrants in three South Texas counties, including at the homes of a Democratic state House candidate and a legislative aide.
Paxton’s investigation into people affiliated with the League of United Latin American Citizens is related to allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting dating back to the 2022 election cycle. A LULAC official has maintained everyone whose home was searched is innocent.
Officials from LULAC, a Latino civil rights organization, told federal authorities they believe Paxton’s conduct was “a direct attempt to suppress the Latino vote through intimidation and harassment, in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other federal civil rights laws.”
The raids targeted the homes of Latinos with ties to LULAC, including Cecilia Castellano, the Democratic candidate for House District 80; Manuel Medina, chief of staff for state Rep. Liz Campos, D-San Antonio; and Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old woman who works with seniors and veterans and has been with the organization for 35 years. They and others had their homes searched and materials, including documents and electronics, seized by investigators.
Texas removed more than a million voters from its rolls since Gov. Greg Abbott signed anti-fraud legislation into law in 2021, Abbott said this week.
Most were removed because they’re deceased or their eligibility was unclear because they didn’t respond to notices about address updates or other questions from the state. But roughly 6,500 were removed because they were “potential noncitizens” who didn’t respond when flagged for follow-ups over citizenship status.
Nothing is more important than election integrity, Paxton said in Wednesday’s statement.
“Any attempt to illegally cancel out legal ballots with fraud, vote harvesting, or other methods will be met with the full force of the law,” he said.