A Latino civic group is calling for an inquiry into what it says were civil rights violations committed by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) said on Monday that Paxton targeted Latino voting activists in an attempt to suppress voting rights.
Leaders from the group formally requested that the Department of Justice open a civil rights investigation into the incidents.
In a news conference, the league’s national president, Roman Palomares, said “It is evident through his (Paxton’s) patterns of lawsuits, raids, searches and seizures that he is trying to keep Latinos from voting.”
“LULAC will not stand idly by and allow our members to be to be targeted, harassed, bullied or intimidated.”
At least six volunteers working with the organization to register voters said that their homes were raided and searched, and their phones, computers and other electronics and voter registration materials were seized.
“We didn’t break any laws. All we did was go out there to increase the political participation of the Latino community,” said Texas LULAC director Gabriel Rosales.
In a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, first obtained by CBS News, Palomares and LULAC CEO Juan Proaño described the case of an 87-year-old great-grandmother who was forced to stand outside her house and was interrogated for three hours.
“These actions are reminiscent of past attempts to intimidate and disenfranchise voters through fear and coercion… these tactics are designed to create a chilling effect on civic participation,” they wrote.
In an August 21 press release, Paxton’s office said it had executed search warrants “as part of an ongoing election integrity investigation” connected to “allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting that occurred during the 2022 elections.”
“We are completely committed to protecting the security of the ballot box and the integrity of every legal vote. This means ensuring accountability for anyone committing election crimes,” Paxton said.
Hogan Gore of the Austin American-Statesman contributed reporting for this story.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused of voting rights violations