The ruling, filed w/the court clerk on Mon, will require Mayes to assemble a grand jury to present the case along with a copy of the #ElectoralCountAct, attys said. The initial presentation of her case took weeks. Mayes plans to appeal to try to get the prosecution back on track.

“We vehemently disagree with the court, & we will file a special action to appeal the ruling,” Mayes spox said.

Among those who were indicted were White House chief of staff #MarkMeadows, attorneys #RudyGiuliani, #JohnEastman & #ChristinaBobb, top campaign adviser #BorisEpshteyn & former campaign aide #MikeRoman. The grand jury accused them of unsuccessfully trying to award the state’s electoral votes to #Trump instead of #Biden even though Biden won the popular vote there.

An #Arizona grand jury last year indicted 18 people as part of the effort to reverse Joe #Biden’s 2020 presidential win in the state, including 7 attorneys & aides affiliated with #Trump’s national campaign & 11 Arizona #Republicans, including some who sought to act as fake presidential electors.

“We are extremely pleased with the court’s ruling, & we think the judge got it exactly right,” said Stephen Binhak, the attorney who spearheaded the effort to get the case back to a grand jury.

The decision is a major setback for #Arizona AG Kris Mayes (D), who promised to appeal the ruling so she could keep the prosecution going.

#MaricopaCounty Superior Court Judge Sam J. Myers sided w/ #Republicans & found that prosecutors failed to provide the grand jury w/the text of an 1887 federal #law that is central to the Republicans’ defense. The #law, known as the #ElectoralCountAct, spells out how presidential electoral votes are to be cast & counted.

It’s a REALLY long ruling but the judges just go off on the #Alabama #Republican-controlled House #redistricting map & the fact that they completely ignored the court’s previous ruling.

Among other things, they find that #GOP lawmakers *intentionally* discriminated against #Black Alabamians when they passed a map that did not create a 2nd Black district.

Reached by phone, Mr. Segura said, “The charges are ridiculous,” [100%] adding that he was advised by his lawyer not to comment further.…

“The people of Texas deserve fair & honest elections, not backroom deals & political insiders rigging the system,” #KenPaxton said in a statement. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law” [except rich white male #Republicans like Paxton & #Trump]

Acc/to a statement by #KenPaxton’s office, a grand jury returned indictments against Rochelle Camacho, the county #judge of Frio County; Carlos Segura, a former elections administrator for Frio; Ramiro Trevino & Racheal Garza, #CouncilMembers for the city of Pearsall; Adriann Ramirez, a trustee w/the #school district in Pearsall; & Rosa Rodriguez, who is described as an “alleged Frio County vote harvester.”

The investigation stemmed from a referral from Audrey Gossett Louis, a #Republican DA from the 81st Judicial District, which includes Atascosa & Frio Counties, where TXAG #KenPaxton’s office conducted some of the raids.

Paxton’s *election integrity* unit was created after #Trump made false claims of fraud in the wake of the #2020election, & Republican-led states sought to crack down on supposed voter crime. Experts have found that voter fraud remains rare.

Many fear that the exchange of money, such as for gas to help deliver a ballot or cast a vote could also be considered illegal. Wed’s indictment accused ofcls of using CashApp to pay one person to engage another to collect ballots.

It was unclear if other arrests were pending.

“I think this is all part of #VoterSuppression,” said Lidia Martinez, who was 87 last year when 9 officers, some w/ #guns, raided her home in San Antonio. She was not among the indicted.

Now, 5 people, all with *ties* to Democratic candidates, are accused of illegal *vote harvesting*, which usually involves knocking on doors & asking if volunteers can deliver completed absentee or mail-in ballots to voting centers or ballot drop boxes.

In 2021, Gov #GregAbbott signed an overhaul of #Texas #election laws which included new restrictions on vote harvesting, making it illegal to deliver a ballot for a 3rd party.