FILE - Protesters gather outside where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation that further tightens Texas' strict voting laws, Sept. 7, 2021 in Tyler, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
FILE - Protesters gather outside where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation that further tightens Texas' strict voting laws, Sept. 7, 2021 in Tyler, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
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FILE - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
HOUSTON (AP) — Nine people, including a former mayor and city council member and the chief of staff to a state representative, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony charges brought forth in a rural Texas county by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as part of a widening elections investigation that is being criticized by Latino rights activists as being politically driven.
The nine people appeared either in person or by Zoom during a court hearing in Pearsall, Texas, before state District Judge Sid Harle.
All of the nine people, who were indicted in late June, have been charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people’s absentee ballots.
In May, people, including Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, the top elected official in the county, were indicted as part of Paxton’s investigation.
One of the individuals who pleaded not guilty on Wednesday was Juan Manuel Medina, who is the chief of staff for state Rep. Elizabeth Campos. Medina is also former chairman of the Democratic Party of Bexar County, where San Antonio is located.
Medina’s lawyer, Gerry Goldstein, declined to comment on Wednesday. “I’m going to do my talking in the courtroom,†Goldstein said.
On Wednesday, Goldstein filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against Medina, who is accused of providing compensation as a third party to two people for vote harvesting in February 2024.
In the motion to dismiss, Goldstein said the vote-harvesting statute is overbroad, vague and “restricts Constitutionally protected rights to speech and to participate in the election and voting process in violation of the First Amendment.â€
Goldstein said in the motion that the vote-harvesting statute “would appear to punish a broad range of protected speech, including non-coercive voter assistance and core political expression, without requiring any actual voter fraud, coercion, or intimidation.â€
“This indictment charges Medina in a capacity that is not a crime and the indictment should be dismissed,†Goldstein said in his 20-page motion.
The vote-harvesting charges are third-degree felonies and carry up to 10 years in prison. The other people who were indicted in June are: Cecilia Castellano, a former candidate for state representative; Frio County Commissioner Raul Carrizales; former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon; former Dilley City Council member Inelda Rodriguez; Petra Davina Trevino, a former candidate for Pearsall city council; Pearsall school district trustee Mari Benavides; Susanna Carrizales; and Rachel Leal.
Attorneys for Raul Carrizales, Susanna Carrizales, Castellano, Obregon and Rodriguez did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Attorneys for Benavides, Leal and Trevino could not immediately be reached for comment.
Paxton’s office and 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis, whose office presented the case to a grand jury with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, did not return a call or email seeking comment.
Last month, Paxton said that any elected official “trying to cheat the system will have to answer for it.â€
“Under my watch, attempts to rig elections and silence the will of the voters will be met with the full force of the law. I will continue to fight to ensure Texas has free and fair elections,†Paxton said in a statement.
The indictments were the latest development in an investigation that Paxton started after the 2020 election to root out voter fraud, which is rare and typically occurs in isolated instances. Texas has tightened its voter laws in recent years and increased penalties that Democrats and opponents say are attempts to suppress turnout among Black and Latino voters.
A federal appeals court last year upheld the state’s law that tightened voter restrictions and increased penalties for vote harvesting.
