A former Texas Democratic Party county chair was among nine party members indicted for alleged vote harvesting, it was reported.
Juan Manuel Medina, former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair and former San Antonio mayoral candidate, was indicted on two counts of vote harvesting, KSAT reported.
The indictments resulted from a statewide investigation by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Medina is accused of vote harvesting on behalf of Cecilia Castellano, who ran as a Democrat in the 2024 election for the District 80 seat in the Texas House of Representatives. Castellano lost to Republican Don McLaughlin.
Documents showed that Medina allegedly provided "compensation or other benefit" to Rachel Leal and former Dilley council member Inelda Rodriguez in February 2024 in exchange for "vote-harvesting services."
Castellano, Leal, and Rodriguez also were indicted.
"Cecilia is innocent. She didn't do anything illegal and I don't think they are going to be able to prove it," attorney Don Flanary said, The Texas Tribune reported. "The problem is it's very chilling for people."
Five other people indicted included: former Pearsall Mayor Petra Davina Trevino, former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon, Susanna Flores Carrizales, Precinct 3 Frio County Commissioner Raul Carrizales III, and Pearsall ISD Board Secretary Maricela Garcia Benavides.
In May, six people were indicted from Paxton's Frio County probe that last year resulted in search warrants leading to the seize of Castellano's phone and a raid on Medina's home, the Tribune reported.
In September, a state district judge dismissed Paxton's request to block a Bexar County plan to mail voter registration forms to country residents prior to the November elections. However, the New Orleans 5th Circuit appeals court overturned the decision after the AG's office appealed.
Last month, Paxton announced he was opening investigations into 33 "potential noncitizens" for allegedly voting in the 2024 election.
The cases were referred to Paxton after the Texas Secretary of State's Office flagged the voter registrations using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' SAVE database. The system, which is operated by the Department of Homeland Security, helps verify immigration status and naturalized or acquired U.S. citizenship.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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