Officials in rural Texas are accused of paying campaign worker who told elderly people how to vote: docs
Six people, including multiple public officials, have been arrested and charged as part of a long-running investigation into an alleged 'vote harvesting' scheme in a rural Texas county against vulnerable seniors during 2022 and 2023 elections.
'The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system,' Texas Attorney General Paxton said in a statement Wednesday announcing the arrests. 'Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law.'
The accused include Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho; former Frio County elections administrator Carlos Segura; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza; Pearsall school district trustee Adriann Ramirez; and campaign worker Rosa Rodriguez.
Candidates for local office allegedly paid a campaign worker named Cheryl Denise Castillo to collect ballots from voters at senior citizens complexes, according to court documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Castillo, who died last year, allegedly prepared ballots for individuals, influenced their voting choices, and assisted individuals who were ineligible for such support under state voting law.
In one December 2023 instance, the campaign worker allegedly told a candidate for sheriff she wouldn't help voters who supported her clients' rivals.
In another instance a few months later, Castillo allegedly told a fellow campaign worker 'that 'honest to God' if you do not go after the elderly disabled, then you will lose your election,' according to the documents.
Investigators reportedly recovered a text message to Castillo during the time of the alleged scheme that read, 'So that means you have stolen ballots from the elderly in elections LMFAO HARD.'
'Several residents confirmed that Castillo picked up their ballots, and in some instances advised them how they should vote their ballot,' police wrote in a search warrant, adding that Castillo had been paid for her work.
Segura, the former county elections administrator, called the allegations 'ridiculous' in an interview with the Post.
The Independent has contacted Camacho and Ramirez for comment, and was unable to reach Rodriguez.
In August 2024, investigators carried out search warrants related to the case in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar counties, with a grand jury arriving at charges on May 1 of this year.
The investigation dates back to 2022, when a county judge candidate running against Camacho filed a complaint.
Mary Moore told investigators she got a tip that Camacho hired Castillo to collect mail ballots for her, and that upon inspecting the ballots, the campaign worker filled out several without notifying officials she assisted anyone.
Moore later went to Pine Hill Estates II, a nursing home, and allegedly captured video of Camacho, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Castillo walking out of the home with 'what appeared to be carrier envelopes,' according to an affidavit obtained by KSAT.
'Several residents confirmed that Castillo picked up their ballot by mail, and in some instances advised them how they should vote their ballot,' per court records obtained by the outlet.
Records obtained by Texas Scorecard reportedly show a convoluted web of payments for the alleged scheme, in which Rodriguez allegedly paid Camacho in May 2022 and May 2023 for vote-harvesting services.
The funds then allegedly went to Ramirez, who made three Cash App payments in April 2023 to Castillo, according to the outlet.
The six individuals, who face charges ranging from vote harvesting to tampering with evidence, could face up to 10 years in prison with fines up to $10,000.
All suspects turned themselves in, and at least five have been released on bond. An arraignment is scheduled for May 23.
The case comes as both state and national Republicans seek to crack down on alleged vulnerabilities in election security, a cause many Democrats dismiss as tackling a largely non-existent in an effort to disenfranchise certain voters.
The indictment in the vote harvesting case in Texas comes just months after a September 2024 ruling from U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, who found that the state's SB1 voter security law was vague, overly broad, and violates freedom of speech and the 14th Amendment, Texas Public Radio reports. The decision also found there's little evidence of illegal 'vote harvesting.'
The decision temporarily paused Paxton's investigation, but he appealed, allowing the probe to move forward.
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