Hispanic Democratic Officials in Texas Plead Not Guilty to Voter Fraud
Gerry Goldstein, a lawyer for the most prominent defendant, told the presiding judge that he had filed a motion Wednesday morning to dismiss the charges and challenge the constitutionality of the state law used to prosecute his client, Juan Manuel Medina, a former chairman of the Democratic Party of Bexar County, the fourth largest in the state.
Gabriel Rosales, the director of the Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, called the charges 'a complete attack on democracy.'
'This is voter suppression 101,' Mr. Rosales said.
The nine defendants, including Mr. Medina, were indicted last month by a South Texas district attorney working with the state's famously conservative attorney general, Ken Paxton. Six of the defendants appeared in person in a courtroom in Pearsall, Texas, while three others, including Mr. Medina, appeared via Zoom. A state judge is expected to consider the motion to dismiss the case in early October.
It was the second time in less than four months that Mr. Paxton has charged prominent Latino Democratic officials with criminal 'ballot harvesting,' the usually routine act of collecting absentee ballots and bringing them to drop boxes or polling sites to be counted. A half-dozen people, including a county judge, two City Council members and a former county election administrator, were charged with voter fraud in May.
The indictments stem from Mr. Paxton's 'election integrity unit,' which launched a sprawling voter fraud inquiry in Latino enclaves near San Antonio and in South Texas. Mr. Paxton has claimed that several Latino officials engaged in vote harvesting to benefit local Latino candidates.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NTSB releases new details in Belle Glade canal crash that killed nine family members
Newly released documents from the National Transportation Safety Board are shedding light on the fatal crash last year near Belle Glade that killed nine members of the same family.
CNN
21 minutes ago
- CNN
Failed New Mexico candidate gets 80 years for convictions in shootings at officials' homes
A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque in the aftermath of the 2020 election. A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker. Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life. Peña's lawyers had sought a five-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency. 'Today was a necessary step toward Mr. Peña's continued fight to prove his innocence,' said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña's attorneys. 'He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.' The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a 'rigged' election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state Legislature. The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator's 10-year-old daughter. Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received yearslong prison sentences.
Wall Street Journal
21 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Chinese Imports Fell During Trump's First Term. It's Happening Again.
President Trump recently delayed for 90 days raising tariffs on China to give the two sides more time to negotiate a trade deal. Where the sides ultimately end up is an open question: The president hasn't said how much more he will impose on China beyond the 30% currently in place if a deal isn't reached. But this much is clear: The U.S.'s reliance on Chinese goods has fallen off since Trump first put tariffs on China in 2018.
