Texas civic group wants judge to block Ken Paxton’s investigation into voter registration efforts

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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.

Why Jolt sued: The group said it was concerned that the Attorney General’s Office would make public the information it was requesting from the organization, which its leaders said would harm its workers and its reputation with the Latino community.

Two days after Bartiromo’s tweets, individuals began posting on social media without proof that Jolt was a “Marxist nonprofit organization” that was helping 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 those social media posts with threatening comments such as “Target practice” or saying they wanted to “hunt” people who worked with Jolt. One social media user responded by posting the name of one of the group’s board members.

Given those threatening comments, Jolt’s board decided it could not comply with Paxton’s request without jeopardizing the safety of its volunteers or the people it works to register. Turning over the information, the group said, could also subject these people to being targeted by Paxton.

The group said it is already feeling the effects of Paxton’s investigation. Some of its previous partners have been less willing to cooperate with the group and its number of volunteer deputy registrars has dropped since the investigation began.

Jolt is asking the court to declare Paxton’s investigation unconstitutional and issue a preliminary injunction barring Paxton from taking any action to enforce his investigation.

What Paxton says: Paxton’s office could not be reached for comment Friday evening. But in the past, his office has said without proof 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 DPS centers if citizens are already given the opportunity to register to vote when conducting business inside the DPS offices.

“My office is investigating every credible report we receive regarding potential criminal activity that could compromise the integrity of our elections,” Paxton said in an Aug. 21 news release announcing his investigation into nonprofit organizations. “Any wrongdoing 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 that they can vote for Democrats. In recent weeks, he has said on social media that 6,500 noncitizens have been removed from the voter rolls in Texas, a number that was first reported by Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Voting rights organizations have said Abbott’s framing of that routine process could be used to undermine trust in elections.

The idea that mass numbers of non-citizens are voting is a winning topic with many Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee this year, who has repeated similar claims, including during the presidential debate this week.

James Barragan is a politics reporter for The Texas Tribune.