Paxton’s office searched the homes of Latino voting-rights volunteers, including an 87-year-old LULAC member

What happened

On Aug. 20, 2024, agents from the attorney general’s office searched at least five homes in South Texas. The homes included those of Manuel Medina, chair of the Tejano Democrats; Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old LULAC volunteer; state House candidate Cecilia Castellano; and Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon. Paxton’s office said the searches were part of a two-year investigation into alleged vote harvesting in the 2022 elections, referred by the local district attorney. ^{01 02}

LULAC called the searches voter intimidation and asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. ⁰¹

In May 2025, six people in Frio County, including the county judge, were indicted on vote-harvesting charges under the 2021 election law known as SB 1. ⁰³ In July 2025, a grand jury indicted nine more, including Medina and Castellano. Castellano’s lawyer said she is innocent and called the prosecution politically motivated. ⁰⁴

Why it matters

Civil rights groups called the searches of elderly Latino volunteers’ homes an attempt to intimidate voters and asked the Justice Department to investigate. ⁰¹

What the sources show

NBC News and CBS News document the searches, who was targeted and the attorney general’s stated reasons. ^{01 02} The Texas Tribune documents the 2025 indictments. ^{03 04} An indictment is a formal accusation, not a finding of guilt. We found no reported convictions, and the outcome of LULAC’s request for a federal investigation is not documented in these sources.