Multiple Local Officials Indicted For Alleged “Illegal Vote Harvesting Scheme,” State Attorney General Announces

Go to Article

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the indictments and arrests of six people for an “illegal vote harvesting scheme.”

The alleged scheme took place in Frio County.

“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Paxton said.

“My office will continue to work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to protect the integrity of our elections,” he added.

From Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:

In August 2024, Attorney General Paxton’s Criminal Investigation Division executed multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar Counties as part of a multi-year election integrity investigation into credible allegations of vote harvesting. On May 1, 2025, Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis and the Election Integrity Unit of the Office of the Attorney General presented a criminal vote harvesting case to a grand jury in Frio County. The grand jury returned true bills for the following indictments:

  • Frio County Judge, Rochelle Camacho: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
  • Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Carlos Segura: 1 count of Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence
  • Pearsall City Council, Ramiro Trevino: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
  • Pearsall City Council, Racheal Garza: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
  • Pearsall ISD Trustee, Adriann Ramirez: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
  • Alleged Frio County Vote Harvester, Rosa Rodriguez: 2 counts of Vote Harvesting

Each suspect was arrested on May 2, 2025, with the exception of Rochelle Camacho, who will be processed at a later date. Attorney General Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit continues to investigate the case along with the Frio County DA.

The Texas Tribune reports:

The City of Pearsall said in a statement it is aware of the indictments, but “due to the sensitivity of this matter and in our efforts to not interfere with any existing or ongoing investigations, the City has no comment at this time.”

Camacho’s office and the Pearsall school board trustee Adriann Ramirez did not immediately return requests for comment.

Ballot collection, or “ballot harvesting,” a term used by many in the Republican Party, refers to the process of designating someone else to return a voter’s ballot. It’s allowed under federal law, but some states have restrictions, such as not allowing the person collecting the ballots to be compensated, or not allowing them to collect more than a certain number of ballots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Paxton brought the charges under Texas’ Senate Bill 1, passed in 2021, which makes it a third-degree felony for a person to knowingly provide or offer “vote harvesting services,” – or the collection of ballots – in exchange for compensation, unless the person is employed as a caregiver for a voter who is eligible to vote by mail. That includes Texans who are 65 or older on Election Day or who are unable to vote in person due to illness or be away from their county throughout the entire election. Under the law, organizers of voter outreach groups and volunteers could spend up to 10 years in prison and be fined up to $10,000 for offering these services.

And while a federal court ruling from September challenging the constitutionality of the law halted the state’s ability to investigate those cases, Paxton appealed that decision, which gave the state leeway to continue. The case remains under appeal.

KSAT, which obtained the search warrants, reported that the documents state that the officials either knowingly provided “vote harvesting services” for money, or, in the case of the former elections administrator, tampering with evidence in an attempt to hide it.



Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account