By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — Nine people, including a former mayor and city council member and the chief of staff to a state representative, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony charges brought forth in a rural Texas county by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as part of a widening elections investigation that is being criticized by Latino rights activists as being politically driven .

The nine people appeared either in person or by Zoom during a court hearing in Pearsall, Texas, before state District Judge Sid Harle.

All of the nine people, who were indicted in late June, have been charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people’s absentee ballots.

In May, six other people, incl

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