The mayor of the City of Edinburg, in the Rio Grande Valley, was arrested today on voter fraud charges, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The Texas Attorney General's office says Richard Molina and his wife Dalia were both charged in the case, where they allegedly registered several voters at numerous different addresses, including at an apartment complex owned by the Molinas, so they could cast several votes for Molina in the 20178 Edinburg municipal election.
Molina narrowly defeated the long time incumbant mayor in that election.
“Voter fraud is an affront to democracy and places the decision-making authority of the Texas electorate in the hands of those who have no right to make those choices,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Voter apathy is caused by rigged elections with guaranteed outcomes. My office will always do everything it can to protect the integrity of Texas elections and the rights of every legal voter to cast a ballot and have it counted accurately. No one is above the law.”
Paxton says his investigators received several complaints about Molina's actions, which are called 'vote harvesting.'
The Hidalgo County District Attorney will prosecute the case.