Paxton sued over voter registration purge activities

Counterpunch time.

Still a crook any way you look

A nonprofit focused on increasing Latinos’ civic participation sued Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court Friday so it could continue its voter registration efforts after the Republican official targeted them in an investigation last month.

The organization Jolt said in its request for a temporary restraining order that Paxton’s investigation would irreparably harm the organization and its associates by disclosing personal information and potentially placing its workers, volunteers and associates in harm’s way.

“If Jolt were forced to disclose confidential information to the Attorney General, it would be considered a betrayal of the trust that Jolt has earned from the Texas Latino community,” the organization’s lawyer, Mimi Marziani, wrote in the lawsuit. “It would make it more difficult for Jolt to associate with others and carry out its mission effectively, and it would likely put Jolt employees and others associated with the organization in danger.”

The background: Jolt’s lawsuit comes as Paxton, a Republican, has tried to bolster unfounded claims that Democrats are allowing noncitizens into the country so they can vote in large numbers. It also follows unprecedented attempts to investigate or shut down nonprofit social aid organizations that assist migrants and Latinos.

Last month, Paxton announced that his office was investigating whether organizations in Texas were “unlawfully registering noncitizens to vote” after FOX News host Maria Bartiromo had posted on social media that someone had seen organizations in Parker County and Fort Worth registering “immigrants” to vote.

The elections administrator and Republican County Chair in Parker County had told news outlets there was no evidence to support the charge. Experts say there is no evidence that people who aren’t U.S. citizens vote in elections in mass numbers. And before someone is allowed to vote, local and Texas officials verify their eligibility.

But on Aug. 31, Jolt, which had been registering people to vote outside Department of Public Safety offices in Fort Worth, received a “Request to Examine” from Paxton’s office asking the organization to turn over several documents, including information it provides about the voter registration process and all of the voter registration receipts it had completed.

In its lawsuit, Jolt said Paxton did not identify a reason why the nonprofit needed to provide the information and did not accuse the organization of any wrongdoing. The group also said Paxton did not obtain the permission or authority from a court to obtain the documents, instead asking for a “Request to Examine” under state law regulating the organization of businesses.

If Jolt did not comply with the request, the nonprofit could forfeit the ability to do business in the state. The nonprofit said in its lawsuit that it is also a Class B misdemeanor to fail to comply with the request from the attorney general’s office.

That Bartiromo story was noted in passing here. I don’t recall Jolt being mentioned before, but I’m sure Paxton’s been out casting a wide net. I assume this is the same Jolt that was founded by Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, but I didn’t find anything from them in a cursory search, so that’s just my assumption. As for the legal action here, well, everything Paxton has done so far has been based on fiction and lies, and so far at least his bullying efforts against immigrant-focused nonprofits have been stopped. As always, it’s not over until the appeals run out, so don’t get complacent. The short term goal is to stop or at least slow down the bullshit until after the election. From there, we have to get back to the more long-term efforts. You know what I’m talking about.

Related Posts:

• The current state of voter purging
• Travis County files its own lawsuit over its voter registration efforts
• Too late, Kenny