4 Arrested in Texas on 150 Counts of Voter Fraud

Four people were arrested in Texas last month on 150 counts of voter fraud dating back to the 2018 Medina County Primary Election.
4 Arrested in Texas on 150 Counts of Voter Fraud
A poll worker stamps a voter's ballot before dropping it into a secure box at a ballot drop-off location in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 13, 2020. Sergio Flores/Getty Images
Isabel van Brugen
Updated:

A South Texas county justice of the peace was among four people arrested last month on 150 counts of voter fraud related to the 2018 primary election in Medina County, according to reports.

The Texas attorney general’s Election Fraud Unit on Feb. 11 arrested Medina County Justice of the Peace Tomas Ramirez, after earlier detaining Leonor Rivas Garza, Eva Ann Martinez, and Mary Balderrama on allegations of election fraud, News4SA reported.

The case involves claims of vote harvesting at assisted living centers in Medina County in the 2018 election, according to a statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office

Ramirez faces one count of organized election fraud, one count of assisting voter voting ballot by mail, and 17 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope, according to the news outlet.

Balderrama is charged with one count of organized election fraud, nine counts of illegal voting, two counts of unlawful possession of ballot or ballot envelope, one count of mail ballot application, two counts of unlawfully assisting voter voting by mail, two counts of tampering with a government record, and eight counts of election fraud.

Garza faces a single count of organized election fraud, two counts of illegal voting, eight counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope, two counts of election fraud, and four counts of fraudulent use of an absentee ballot by mail.

Martinez is charged with a single count of organized election fraud, nine counts of illegal voting, 28 counts of unlawful possession of ballot or ballot envelope, three counts of purportedly acting as an agent, five counts of tampering with a government record, 14 counts of election fraud, and four counts of fraudulent mail ballot application, according to News4SA.

The Texas attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

In a separate incident, Raquel Rodriguez, a Texas woman who bragged about being able to deliver thousands of votes for tens of thousands in cash was arrested in January on charges including election fraud and illegal voting.

Rodriguez was filmed during an undercover project by Project Veritas, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization. She was recorded in footage released last year that she could deliver “at least 5,000” votes “county-wide” for $55,000 in cash. She acknowledged that what she was discussing could land her prison time.

Based on the footage, Paxton, a Republican, opened an investigation. That probe led to the arrest, Paxton announced on Jan. 13.

Rodriguez faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Isabel van Brugen
Isabel van Brugen
Reporter
Isabel van Brugen is an award-winning journalist. She holds a master's in newspaper journalism from City, University of London.
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