Democrats Arrested In Alleged Texas Ballot Harvesting Scheme

According to the legal documents, Medina purportedly offered “compensation or other benefit” to two individuals—Rachel Leal and former Dilley council member Inelda Rodriguez—in February 2024 in return for “vote-harvesting services.”

Castellano, Leal, and Rodriguez have also been indicted alongside Medina.

“Cecilia is innocent. She didn’t do anything illegal, and I don’t think they are going to be able to prove it,” stated her attorney, Don Flanary, as reported by The Texas Tribune. “The problem is it’s very chilling for people.”

Additionally, five others have been indicted: former Pearsall Mayor Petra Davina Trevino, former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon, Susanna Flores Carrizales, Frio County Precinct 3 Commissioner Raul Carrizales III, and Pearsall ISD Board Secretary Maricela Garcia Benavides.

These indictments follow a May announcement by Paxton that six individuals were charged as part of the same investigation in Frio County. This inquiry had previously resulted in a raid on Medina’s residence and the confiscation of Castellano’s phone.

In September, a state district judge had prevented Paxton from halting Bexar County’s distribution of voter registration forms to residents. However, this decision was subsequently overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans following an appeal from Paxton’s office.

Recently, Paxton announced a new series of investigations targeting 33 individuals identified as “potential noncitizens” who allegedly participated in the 2024 election.

These cases were referred to his office after the Texas Secretary of State identified suspicious voter registrations through a federal immigration verification system known as SAVE. This database, managed by the Department of Homeland Security, assists in verifying whether an individual has obtained U.S. citizenship or possesses legal immigration status.

In October 2022, two individuals were indicted in Arizona as part of a vote harvesting operation in Yuma County. The then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) stated that the operation took place during the 2020 election, as reported by The Epoch Times, which further noted:

Gloria Lopez Torres and Nadia Guadalupe Lizarraga-Mayorquin, both residents of San Luis, are facing charges of conspiracy and ballot abuse, according to a news release from the attorney general. Ballot harvesting is classified as a class 6 felony. Notably, Lopez Torres is currently serving as a council member in San Luis, as reported by local media. They are accused of orchestrating a scheme to gather “early ballots from other voters” and submit them into a ballot box during the state’s primary election in August 2020.

Torres is alleged to have collected seven ballots from Lizarraga-Mayorquin, based on grand jury indictments (pdf) that were issued earlier this month. Lizarraga-Mayorquin is also accused of collecting at least one ballot from an undisclosed third party.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich has declared that Gloria Lopez Torres from San Luis, along with Nadia Guadalupe Lizarraga-Mayorquin, also referred to as Nadia Buchanan, has been indicted by the State Grand Jury on charges of Conspiracy and Ballot Abuse. These charges stem from an alleged ‘ballot harvesting’ operation, in which early ballots from other voters were gathered and submitted into a ballot box on the primary Election Day, August 4, 2020. The municipal elections in San Luis took place on that day,” stated the attorney general’s office on its website.

“The Grand Jury’s indictments, which were issued on October 3, 2022, claim that Torres collected seven ballots from Lizarraga-Mayorquin, and that Lizarraga-Mayorquin obtained at least one ballot from a third party.