A woman accused of running an illegal ballot harvesting scheme during the 2022 General Election was arrested in Starr County, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Wednesday.
A grand jury indicted Modesta Vela of Roma after a yearlong investigation into ballot harvesting operations targeting numerous senior citizens in South Texas. She was arrested on September 4, marking her fourth arrest since 2010.
“Due to the findings of this investigation, a grand jury issued a true bill indictment against Vela for intentionally and knowingly influencing a Texan’s vote in the presence of the ballot during the voting process, which is an offense punishable as a state jail felony,” according to Paxton’s office.
Ballot harvesting—sometimes referred to as “ballot trafficking”—typically involves a third party illegally collecting and handling voters’ ballots in order to influence elections.
In South Texas, these third-party ballot harvesters are known as politiqueras.
Investigators with the Office of the Attorney General said Vela’s activities focused on Texans over the age of 65, a group often targeted in such cases due to their automatic eligibility for mail-in voting.
Paxton reiterated his longstanding position that election fraud is an ongoing threat in Texas.
“Though liberals and the left-wing media like to pretend otherwise, we know that election fraud is real and a serious threat,” said Paxton. “Criminals trying to steal our elections and rig the democratic process will be found, arrested, and prosecuted. Modesta Vela was trying to take advantage of voters and broke the law by illegally ballot harvesting and targeting a Texan seeking to engage in our elections. Now, it’s time for Vela to answer for her actions in court.”
The investigation followed a complaint filed in late 2022 by Project Red Texas, alleging Vela was involved in ballot harvesting operations in Starr County.
The complaint alleges that in October 2022, Vela “approached the house of Eusebio Aleman, entered the house, assisted at least one resident with completing their mailballots, and left the residence in possession of at least one mail ballot and official carrier envelope.”
Vela reportedly indicated that she worked for Starr County Judge Eloy Vera, who was running for reelection at the time.
The complaint also alleges that Judge Vera “failed to file his pre-election campaign finance report required by Election Code 254.064, essentially hiding the relationship between [himself and Ms. Vela].”
In 2023, a search warrant was issued for the Starr County Elections Department. At least 180 mail-in ballots were seized in the raid. Vela was subsequently arrested as a result of this investigation.
Yet this is not the first time Vela has faced allegations or arrest for voter fraud.
Vela is a former Starr County Precinct 2 employee. She was fired in 2018 after allegedly assisting over 200 mail-in voters in Starr County’s March 2018 Democrat primary.
As previously covered by Texas Scorecard, Vela was initially arrested in October 2018 on four voter fraud charges relating to those allegations.
She was charged with felony counts of illegal voting, knowingly possessing a ballot or ballot envelope of another person with the intent to defraud, election fraud, and a misdemeanor count of unlawful assistance of a voter.
Weeks later, Vela was arrested again on four new voter fraud charges. This included tampering with a government record, namely voter registration applications. Starr County Special Crimes Unit made the arrest.
Vela was also arrested in 2010 on a voter-fraud charge involving improper mail-in ballot assistance during that year’s Democrat primary.
She is currently facing prosecution on felony charges related to the 2022 ballot harvesting operation. If convicted, she could face up to two years in a state jail facility.
“For years the people of Starr County have been subjected to a plethora of election scandals,” said Wayne Hamilton, director of Project Red Texas. “Ms. Vela is a familiar figure in some of those.”
“The difference now is that [Project Red Texas] is fighting to protect the people from an out-of-control election cartel that tries to determine outcomes no matter who the people vote for. The people’s voice will be heard,” Hamilton continued.
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