Attorney General Bonta Joins Multistate Letter Calling for Investigation into Texas Raids

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a multistate coalition in a letter requesting the United States Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ) open an investigation into raids recently conducted by the Texas Attorney General’s Office targeting Latino voting rights organizers, candidates for office, and community volunteers to determine whether these raids constitute violations of civil rights, including the right to vote. Under the guise of policing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, the Texas Attorney General’s Office searched the homes of Latino candidates and voting rights organizers and seized property from the homes of elderly volunteers. These raids targeting minority voters—weeks away from early voting—harm all Americans by causing confusion, sowing fear, and suppressing turnout. Today’s letter calls on U.S. DOJ's Civil Rights Division to investigate the Texas raids to determine whether they constitute civil rights violations. 

“Using fear and baseless accusations to target people of color is unacceptable and un-American,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I am committed to upholding the civil rights of all Americans, particularly when it comes to the fundamental right to vote. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and they must be able to do so free from fear and intimidation. My office stands ready to protect the rights of all voters.”

The letter emphasizes that there is very little actual evidence of voter fraud anywhere in the United States and observes that the raids are “just the latest iteration of a longstanding pattern of using baseless allegations of voter fraud to intimidate voters of color.” The letter also observes that Texas’s raids took place while the country is currently “inundated with attempts to set the stage for false allegations that the upcoming election is fraudulent.”

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the letter can be found here.