Texas Attorney General continues targeting Latino-heavy Harris and Bexar counties over voter registration

SEATTLE - In his latest move to counter what he believes is voter registration fraud, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened Harris and Bexar counties, two of the state's most populous and Latino-heavy counties, with lawsuits over their plans to register voters via mail.

In letters written on Sept. 2, Paxton claimed the counties' mailing of voter registration forms would either "confuse" noncitizens about their eligibility to vote or "induce" them to fraudulently register to cast a vote. The two counties targeted by Paxton are either plurality or majority Latino, with nearly a fifth of all Texas Latinos living in Harris County alone.

In both letters, the Texas Attorney General accused county officials of facilitating illegal voting by noncitizens or those disenfranchised after being convicted of felonies.

"As you are aware, the Biden-Harris administration's open border policies have saddled Texas — and the entire country — with a wave of illegal immigration that has resulted in ballooning noncitizen populations across our State," he said.

Paxton added that these registration methods "indiscriminately [invite] county residents to register to vote regardless of their eligibility."

On Sept. 2, he shared a tweet on his X account urging both counties to abandon their proposal, warning them of taking the matter to court.

Paxton's latest move reflects that of other Republican leaders over the past few months, who have warned Americans of the threat of undocumented immigrants being able to cast a vote ahead of the November 5 elections.

Earlier this year, House Republicans passed a bill requiring expanded proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. A few weeks after the bill was passed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott claimed that, out of the over one million peopled removed from Texas' voter rolls since 2021, 6,500 of them were potential noncitizens.

Despite claims from Republican leaders, America's Voice, an immigration reform organization, has been one of the most vocal groups against the claim of noncitizens being allowed to vote in federal elections. According to the NGO's data, noncitizen voting's frequency is close to zero, a claim also supported by the Cato Institute.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt has also accused Harris County leaders of facilitating voter registration by noncitizens. When asked for proof of voter fraud by The Texas Tribune, Bettencourt pointed to 35 cases of noncitizens who had tried or succeeded to get onto the voter roles during his two-decade tenure as a tax assessor-collector in the county between 1998-2008.

As reported by The Latin Times last month, efforts by Texas Republicans to prove vote-harvesting allegations led to the raid of Cecilia Castellano's home, a Democratic candidate for the Texas House, as well as her legislative aide's home, Manuel Medina.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), has condemned the raids as intimidation tactics designed to suppress the Latino vote. LULAC plans to request a federal investigation from the U.S. Justice Department, accusing Paxton of using these actions to favor his political allies ahead of the 2024 elections.