AILSA CHANG, HOST:
We turn to Texas, where a prominent Latino civil rights group is asking for a federal investigation after a voter fraud probe there targeted some activists. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who's pledged to root out voter fraud, started the inquiry even though documented cases of voter fraud are rare. Gabriella Alcorta-Solorio is a reporter with Texas Public Radio in San Antonio and joins us now. Hi, Gabriella.
GABRIELLA ALCORTA-SOLORIO, BYLINE: Hi.
CHANG: OK, so tell us more about this civil rights group that's objecting to the voter fraud probe. And what are they alleging, exactly?
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: OK, so the group is the League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC. They say they're the largest and the oldest Latino organization in the U.S. They say that several Democrats and activists were targeted with this probe in three counties around South Texas, including the one I'm in right now, Bexar. Officers went into homes with search warrants, and items, including phones and computers were taken. And LULAC emphasized it's voter intimidation against Latinos.
CHANG: And have any of the people who were targeted spoken out yet?
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: So this morning, LULAC held a news conference here in San Antonio. We heard from a series of advocates and a Texas House Democratic candidate whose home was also raided, and a - notably from Lidia Martinez. She's an 87-year-old who's volunteered with LULAC for a very, very long time, and she lives in San Antonio. She became really emotional when describing the experience.
LIDIA MARTINEZ: They questioned me for three hours. And at one point, they had me outside in front of all my neighbors while they searched the living room. And they never let me get dressed. And it was just very embarrassing, intimidating, harassment. They searched everything in my house.
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: Martinez did say that items, including her phone and computer, were taken. Two other elderly women that attended the press conference said their homes were also raided, but they declined to speak.
CHANG: Well, what has the state of Texas said about these raids?
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: Well, first, we heard about them last week, when Attorney General Paxton's office said it executed search warrants as a part of a, quote, "election integrity investigation." We don't know much about the probe, but Paxton's office said it followed a referral in 2022 from a local DA regarding allegations of election fraud and illegally handling ballots during the '22 elections. I should note here that isolated cases of voter fraud do occur, but it's very rare.
CHANG: Very rare. Well, tell us more about Ken Paxton. This is the state attorney general who brought this case.
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: Yes. Ken Paxton is our Texas attorney general. He's a Republican and a Trump ally who spreads baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and made it a key part of his office's work. He and other Texas Republicans have sought to toughen voting rules and crackdown on fraud, and now have an Election Integrity Unit is what they call it. But according to some recent reporting from the Houston Chronicle, the program spent $3.3 million, even as its numbers of cases have dwindled to a handful. So while we see where these investigations go, activists said this is nothing new for Paxton, and something like this happens every election.
CHANG: So will there be a federal investigation?
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: LULAC is asking the Civil Rights Office of the Department of Justice to investigate what he called the interference of the Latino vote. I should say NPR reached out to the DOJ. A spokesperson said the department is aware of the matter and declines to further comment.
CHANG: That is Gabriella Alcorta-Solorio from Texas Public Radio. Thank you so much, Gabriella.
ALCORTA-SOLORIO: It was my pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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