Republicans Target Voters, Election Officials 

Voter fraud? The real fraud is in intimidating, harassing, and denying citizens the right to vote. And Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the pack. 

Immigrants are a favorite target for Paxton, who continues a long Texas tradition of denying ballots to immigrant citizens or their descendants. Karen Tumulty, a descendant of Polish immigrants, places Paxton’s present-day persecution in the context of Texas history: 

“In 1880, members of a small Polish immigrant community founded by my South Texas ancestors were hauled into a San Antonio court and accused of having cast ballots illegally in that year’s election.

“The circumstances that put them there are strikingly similar to what is going on today. Hysteria over supposed fraud at the ballot box is sweeping across red states, and especially Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) went so far recently as to raid the homes of Latino elected leaders, candidates and campaign workers, confiscating cellphones, laptops and documents. …

“The raids that Paxton conducted as part of what he calls an “ongoing election integrity investigation” have yet to produce any evidence of misdeeds. As my colleague Arelis R. Hernández has written, critics of Paxton, a darling of Donald Trump and the right, note that: ‘In pursuing election fraud cases — often targeting Hispanicand Black Texans — over the last decade, he has left a trail of dismissed charges, unrealized threats, lost court cases and ruined lives in his wake.'” 

The New York Times reported on one recent Paxton raid—this one targeting an 87-year-old retired teacher in San Antonio. Lidia Martinez heard a knock on her door before 6 a.m.

“She thought that maybe a neighbor needed milk and eggs, she said, and she fastened her sleeping gown and opened the door.

“Nine officers, seven of them men, some with guns in their holsters, then pushed open the door and marched past a living room wall decorated with crucifixes, she said. …

“Ms. Martinez said that the officers told her they came because she had filled out a report saying that older residents were not getting mail ballots. ‘Yes, I did,’ she told them. For 35 years, Ms. Martinez has been a member of LULAC, the civil rights group, helping Latino residents stay engaged in politics. Much of her work has included instructing older residents and veterans on how to fill out voter registration cards. …

“One of the officers handed her a copy of the search warrant and ordered her to sit at her kitchen table. Two of the agents went to her bedroom and searched everywhere, ‘my underwear, my nightgown, everything, they went through everything,’ she recalled. They took her laptop, phone, planner and some documents.

“’They asked me about my entire life,’ she said.”

After questioning the 87-year-old woman for three hours, officers finally left. She was not arrested or charged with anything. 

This kind of harassment is meant to intimidate people and scare them away from working on voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns. Similar harassment, and sometimes serious threats, target election officials across the country this year. 

In a recent survey, 38 percent of local election officials say they have been threatened for doing their jobs. Many have resigned, concerned for their safety and the safety of their families.  Suspicious packages have been mailed to election officials in at least 23 states across the country. Among the latest: a package delivered in late September to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon’s office with a return address of “United States Traitor Elimination Army.” 

The Washington Post reports: 

“Threats and harassment of election workers have skyrocketed since Trump and his allies began denying the results of the 2020 election, amplifying their false claims on television, podcasts and social media. The developments caused a mass exodus of veteran election administrators from their jobs, and prompted scores of election offices around the country to harden their physical workspaces with bulletproof glass, emergency buttons and extensive crisis training.”

The best antidote to Republican attacks on voting and elections: get out there and vote.