For targeting elderly residents with an illegal vote harvesting scheme, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton indicted six rural county officials.
Two city council members, a county judge, and a former elections administrator are accused of paying for ballot collection through Cash App.
The six individuals facing charges in Frio County are County Judge Rochelle Camacho, Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza, Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez, and county resident Rosa Rodriguez.
Former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura has been charged with tampering with evidence.
The charges highlight concerns about election integrity even among those tasked with safeguarding the process.
The scheme specifically targeted elderly residents in a Pearsall subdivision.
According to investigators, the main vote harvester took elaborate measures to conceal their activities, including hiding ballots and switching vehicles to avoid detection.
The investigation began following the 2020 election as part of broader efforts to address voter fraud concerns in Texas.
The vote harvesting charges are third-degree felonies in Texas, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
The practice typically involves payment for collecting and submitting absentee ballots, which undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
Investigators claim some officials used Cash App to pay for these illegal vote-harvesting services, creating a digital trail of their crimes.
The investigation gained momentum after Mary Moore initially reported allegations. Moore ran against Camacho in the 2022 Democrat primary for county judge.
This case demonstrates how electoral fraud can directly impact local leadership positions, potentially installing officials who did not legitimately win their elections.
While Latino rights activists have criticized the investigation as politically motivated, a federal appeals court recently upheld Texas’s law strengthening voter restrictions and increasing penalties for vote harvesting.
This legal victory reinforces the state’s authority to protect election integrity through strict enforcement measures.
Paxton’s office has been vigilant in pursuing election fraud cases across Texas.
This latest round of indictments serves as a powerful reminder that electoral corruption can thrive in smaller jurisdictions where oversight might be limited and personal connections can enable illegal schemes.
The case highlights the ongoing battle to secure election integrity in America.
While Democrats and mainstream media outlets frequently downplay concerns about voter fraud, describing it as rare and isolated, these indictments provide concrete evidence that organized efforts to manipulate elections do exist.
