Since November South Arkansas Reckoning has investigated voter integrity issues in Arkansas.
We uncovered proof in November that an employee in Pulaski County Circuit and County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth's office accessed and made changes in the precinct voter registration (PVR) system after the polls closed on the first day of early voting in October 2024.
That change allowed citizens to vote for candidates outside their districts in federal, state and local races. The employee was terminated. The voters were not given corrected ballots.
The Reckoning uncovered this story in November and published our first investigative piece on Nov. 14 then on Nov. 19 we reported on the employee's employment background. Again on Nov. 20 we reported after the Pulaski County Election Commissioners met to certify the 2024 election. One Pulaski county election commissioner voted against certification of the 2024 election.
Pulaski County citizens, after reading our series of investigative reports, filed complaints with the Pulaski County Board of Election Commissioners. Those complaints were sent to the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners, Attorney General Tim Griffin’s Voter Integrity Unit and Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones.
It's worth mentioning that during this meeting to certify the Pulaski County election, national paper ballot advocate Colonel Conrad Reynolds participated in a demonstration of electronic voting machines. In a "you can't make this up" moment the machine appeared to malfunction resulting in officials retrieving a back-up machine to finish the demonstration.
Last December, Jeff LeMaster, communications director for Attorney General Griffin, confirmed to the Reckoning on Dec. 3 that "the allegations of election irregularities in Pulaski County has been referred to us by the Pulaski County Board of Election Commissioners, and we have opened an investigation."
Yet, to date, no one in state government has confirmed that an investigation by the State Board of Election Commissioners (SBEC) has actually occurred – or is occurring – into this matter. Secretary of State Cole Jester ultimately oversees the board. His office remains silent as to the Pulaski County early voting debacle.
A recent Freedom of Information request to the SBEC by the Reckoning yielded no clear evidence of any action.
Hollingsworth, a Democrat, is no stranger to election issues.
In 2022 Hollingsworth accepted an "offer of settlement and letter of warning" for precinct assignment errors on the PVR list.
The Reckoning recently reported information received from election data analyst Donnie Scroggins that another possible precinct swap during early voting may have occurred in 2024.
Richard Owens
Meanwhile, in Texas
On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in a news release "the indictments and arrests of six people, including several public officials, for election crimes related to a vote harvesting scheme in Frio County."
Paxton's release stated that last August his Criminal Investigation Division "executed multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar Counties as part of a multi-year election integrity investigation into credible allegations of vote harvesting."
According to the Heritage Foundation "Vote harvesting occurs when third parties — like campaign workers — collect absentee ballots from voters and deliver them to election officials."
Frio County in Southern Texas has a population of 18,385 people. Atascosa County's population is 51,784, according to 2023 census records. Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, has a population of 2.08 million people.
Paxton's release stated that on May 1, 2025, Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis and the Election Integrity Unit of the Office of the Attorney General presented a criminal vote harvesting case to a grand jury in Frio County. The grand jury returned true bills for the following indictments:
- Frio County Judge, Rochelle Camacho: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
- Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Carlos Segura: 1 count of Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence
- Pearsall City Council, Ramiro Trevino: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
- Pearsall City Council, Racheal Garza: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
- Pearsall ISD Trustee, Adriann Ramirez: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
- Alleged Frio County Vote Harvester, Rosa Rodriguez: 2 counts of Vote Harvesting
“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” said Attorney General Paxton. “My office will continue to work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to protect the integrity of our elections.”
Each suspect was arrested on May 2, 2025, with the exception of Rochelle Camacho, who will be processed at a later date.
Attorney General Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit continues to investigate the case along with the Frio County DA, according to the news release.
Trump’s Executive Order
In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at "preserving and protecting the integrity of American elections."
That executive order stated, "Above all, elections must be honest and worthy of the public trust. That requires voting methods that produce a voter-verifiable paper record allowing voters to efficiently check their votes to protect against fraud or mistake. Election-integrity standards must be modified accordingly."
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in an April Cabinet meeting that American "voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers for a very long time and vulnerable to exploitation to manipulate the results of the votes being cast."
Most counties in Arkansas use touchscreen voting machines. The exception is Searcy County that returned to paper ballots for the 2024 election, and Independence County that have now voted to return to paper ballots for future elections.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a crowd in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that she was working on the paper ballot issue in Arkansas.
Voter integrity remains a hot topic across America often with politicians digging in to keep electronic voting systems intact.
Trump and millions of Americans are seeking to return to paper ballots.
The Trump Administration has issued numerous election security upgrade requirements seemingly directed at cleaning up election irregularities as well as measures to thwart bad actors who may be influencing the nation's elections.
Texas appears to be aligned with the MAGA movement as well as steadfast in delivering swift action to those accused of election integrity issues.
Arkansas officials seem to be coasting along as days have turned into months following the discovery of election irregularities in Pulaski County.
