Ken Paxton agrees to suspend Texas group’s voter registration investigation

A nonprofit focused on increasing Latino civic participation can continue its work without fear of being shut down by the state after a federal judge on Oct. 24 granted a stay on the group’s lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton .

The move came after both sides agreed to put the case on hold while the courts decide a separate lawsuit involving the tool Paxton’s office used to investigate Jolt, the nonprofit Latino engagement organization. Last month, a federal judge ruled in a case involving Spirit Aerosystems that the “request to investigate” tool used by the attorney general’s office to investigate companies and nonprofits, including Jolt, was unconstitutional.

To avoid conflicting court decisions, the two sides of the Jolt lawsuit agreed to put the case on hold until the Spirit Aerosystems case was resolved.

Jolt had stated in its original request for a preliminary injunction that Paxton’s investigation would cause irreparable harm to the organization and its employees by exposing personal information and potentially putting its employees, volunteers and staff at risk.

“Forcing Jolt to disclose confidential information to the Attorney General would be viewed as a betrayal of the trust Jolt has earned from the Texas Latino community,” the organization’s attorney Mimi Marziani wrote in the lawsuit. “It would make it more difficult for Jolt to collaborate with others and carry out its mission effectively, and it would likely put Jolt employees and others associated with the organization at risk.”

The background: Jolt’s lawsuit came as Paxton, a Republican, sought to bolster baseless claims that Democrats were allowing non-citizens into the country to vote in large numbers. It also followed unprecedented attempts to investigate or shut down nonprofit social service organizations that support immigrants and Latinos.

In August, Paxton announced that his office was investigating whether organizations in Texas were “illegally registering non-citizens to vote” after FOX News anchor Maria Bartiromo posted on social media that someone had seen organizations in Parker County and Fort Worth “immigrants” registered to vote.

Parker County’s election official and Republican precinct chairman had told news outlets that there was no evidence to support the allegation. Experts say there is no evidence that people who are not U.S. citizens vote in elections in large numbers. And before someone is allowed to vote, local and Texas officials check 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 for review” from Paxton’s office asking the organization to turn over several documents, including information , which it provides about the voter registration process and any voter registration documents it completes.

In his lawsuit, Jolt said Paxton did not provide a reason why the nonprofit needed to provide the information and did not accuse the organization of wrongdoing. The group also said Paxton did not seek permission or authority from a court to obtain the documents, but instead filed a “petition for review” under state laws governing corporate organization.

If Jolt failed to comply, the nonprofit could lose its ability to operate in the state. The nonprofit said in its lawsuit that failing to comply with the attorney general’s request is also a Class B misdemeanor.

Why Jolt sued: The group said it was concerned that the attorney general’s office would release the information requested by the organization, which its executives said would harm its employees and its reputation in the Latino community.

Two days after Bartiromo’s tweets, individuals began posting on social media without providing evidence that Jolt was a “Marxist nonprofit organization” that helped undocumented immigrants register to vote. Some people posted videos on social media purporting to confront the group’s volunteer deputy registrars. Other users responded to these social media posts with threatening comments such as “target practice” or saying they wanted to “hunt” people who worked with Jolt. A social media user responded by posting the name of one of the group’s board members.

In light of these threatening comments, Jolt’s board decided that it could not comply with Paxton’s request without jeopardizing the safety of its volunteers or the people it works to enroll. Sharing the information, the group said, could also lead to those people being targeted by Paxton.

The group said it is already feeling the impact of Paxton’s investigation. Some of her former partners have been less willing to work with the group and the number of her volunteer deputy registrars has declined since the investigation began.

Jolt asked the court to declare Paxton’s investigation unconstitutional and to issue an injunction barring Paxton from taking any action to enforce his investigation.

What Paxton says: When the lawsuit was originally filed, Paxton’s office could not be reached for comment. But in the past, his office has stated, without evidence, that “Texans are deeply troubled by the possibility that organizations purporting to assist with voter registration are illegally registering noncitizens to vote.”

He questioned why organizations were registering to vote outside of DPS centers when citizens already have the option to register to conduct business at DPS offices.

“My office investigates every credible report we receive of potential criminal activity that could threaten the integrity of our elections,” Paxton said in an Aug. 21 news release announcing his investigation into nonprofits. “Any misconduct will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

Paxton has falsely accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of intentionally allowing undocumented immigrants into the country so they could vote for Democrats. In recent weeks, he said on social media that 6,500 non-citizens were removed from voter rolls in Texas, a number first reported by Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Voting rights organizations said Abbott’s design of this routine process could be abused to undermine confidence in elections.

The idea of ​​large numbers of non-citizens voting is a popular topic among many Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee this year, who has repeated similar claims, including during this week’s presidential debate.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/13/texas-voter-registration-investigation-paxton-lawsuit/.

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“Ken Paxton agrees to pause his investigation into Texas civic group’s voter registration efforts” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs — and engages with — Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues occurs.

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