Attorney General Ken Paxton indicted and arrested six people, including five public officials, all Democrats, for what his office described as a “vote harvesting scheme” in Frio County, a part of his years long election integrity investigation, his office announced Wednesday.
The Frio County judge and former county elections administrator, two Pearsall City Council members and one school board member, and one other person were each charged. Five of them were arrested on May 2. Rochelle Camacho, the county judge, will be processed at a later date, according to a release from Paxton’s office.
“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system,” Paxton wrote in a statement. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Audrey Gossett Louis, the district attorney for the region, said in a statement: “Violating the privacy or voting rights of our elderly or disabled community members will be met with zero tolerance.
Paxton brought the charges under Texas' Senate Bill 1, passed in 2021, which makes 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.
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