Texas AG Sues Nonprofit Over Voter Registration
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has initiated legal action against the Jolt Initiative, a nonprofit focused on enhancing Latino civic engagement, over accusations of registering undocumented immigrants to vote.
According to court documents from Paxton’s office, the organization allegedly “systematically undermines the election process and violates Texas Election Law” by recruiting and instructing individuals to submit false or illegal voter registration applications.
“The left constantly attempts to manipulate elections because they know they can’t win fairly. Any group trying to register illegal immigrants—who, by the way, are all criminals—should be completely dismantled,” Paxton claimed in a statement. “JOLT is a radical, partisan operation that has purposefully tainted our voter rolls and diluted the voices of legal voters in Texas. They will face the full extent of the law.”
The lawsuit seeks to dissolve Jolt’s charter and prohibit it from operating in Texas.
In response, Jolt has countered with a lawsuit of its own against Paxton, claiming that his actions are retaliatory, aimed at revoking their corporate charter. The group argues that Paxton’s lawsuit is a direct attack on their First Amendment rights, stemming from their voter registration initiatives and previous legal actions challenging intrusive requests from his office.
“We want to make it clear: the Texas Attorney General is trying to silence Latino voters,” stated Jolt Executive Director Jackie Bastard. “After challenging his initial unconstitutional intimidation efforts, he escalated to trying to strip us of our ability to operate. This ongoing legal action clearly seeks to suppress our voter registration initiatives and prior litigation as its basis.”
Paxton claims his office’s investigation uncovered that Jolt members were improperly stationed at the Texas Department of Land Transportation, providing instructions that contravened the Texas Election Act.
These volunteers allegedly orchestrated efforts to recruit individuals in order to submit unauthorized voter registration applications, potentially targeting individuals without proper identification. According to Paxton’s lawsuit, Jolt allegedly neglected to verify voter registration eligibility, even encouraging falsified information in applications.
Jolt argues that this lawsuit is part of a broader scheme by Paxton to hinder the voting rights of young Latinos in Texas.
“We will not be intimidated,” said Maria Tolentino, Jolt’s program director. “We are asking a federal court for immediate intervention to protect our First Amendment rights and ensure our vital work of civic engagement continues.”
Last year, Paxton’s office began investigating Jolt and other organizations over similar suspicions. He had requested documents related to their lawsuit against the state, expressing concerns about the risks to staff and volunteers involved.
In a broader context, over 2,700 individuals labeled as possible illegal immigrants appeared on Texas’s voter rolls during an October investigation, as noted by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, prompting eligibility reviews across all 254 counties.
