Posted on 08/20/2005 8:45:21 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Women accused of voting twice in San Juan election
EDINBURG — A grand jury indicted two women Wednesday for voting twice in the San Juan city election.
Maria Louisa Rodriguez and her daughter of the same name were charged with illegal voting, a third-degree felony that carries a two to 10-year prison sentence and a maximum $10,000 fine.
"It’s not fair because (the politiqueras) pressured us to do it," the daughter said. "They told us to go ahead and vote again because it was all right."
The politiqueras who brought the mother and daughter to vote for a second time were identified in an internal city memorandum as Cindy Rodriguez, wife of City Commissioner Bobby Rodriguez, and Vicki Loredo, wife of ex-mayor Robert Loredo.
The memo was written by City Secretary Vicki Ramirez, who accepted the Rodriguez ballots outside City Hall.
Cindy Rodriguez and Vicki Loredo drove the two women to the polling location, according to the memo.
District Attorney Rene Guerra said neither of the politiqueras would face charges.
The grand jury’s investigation into the San Juan election is over, he said.
"The grand jury sees fit to indict who they want," he said. "The problem’s always going to be with the burden of proof."
Bobby Rodriguez said his wife was unavailable for comment but expressed relief that she would not face criminal charges when contacted Wednesday.
"We’re ecstatic. All along we felt this was a misunderstanding and they did nothing wrong," he said. "We see there’s an opportunity to improve our election process, so this doesn’t happen again."
Maria Louisa Rodriguez and her daughter had initially cast their ballots during the
early voting period before Election Day.
Information available to Ramirez when the mother and daughter came to vote in person did not reflect that early vote, Ramirez said.
In a separate election scandal in McAllen, the grand jury could hand down indictments as early as next week, Guerra said.
Allegations of a votes-for-money scheme involving McAllen mayoral candidate Ric Godinez’s campaign first surfaced after it was revealed 80 percent of that election’s mail-in votes were cast for the 39-year-old attorney.
While Godinez ended up losing to Mayor Richard Cortez in a runoff election June 18, his campaign attracted attention once again when a McAllen watchdog group released their review of the mail-in ballot applications earlier this month.
Of the 316 applications reviewed — roughly one third of the total received — Futuro McAllen claim 96 percent to have been illegally prepared.
———
James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
Allegations of a votes-for-money scheme involving McAllen mayoral candidate Ric Godinez’s campaign first surfaced after it was revealed 80 percent of that election’s mail-in votes were cast for the 39-year-old attorney.
South Texas is a pathetic nest of corruption.
Strange, nowhere did I see their political party mentioned.
I wonder why.
hmmmmm.
You win the kewpie doll!
City elections are "non partisan" in Texas!;^)
Yeah! I'm really puzzled about that myself. Green Party, you think?
San Juan, ??? Puerto Rico?
The article never mentions where.
McAllen I know is in Texas, but I never heard of a San Juan, Texas.
South Texas is occupied by Mexicans. They should not be voting in any elections except those in Mexico. Squatters do not have voting rights in the US...yet.
Lame-o BS excuse, nobody is that stupid.
Let me guess, they're all conservative Republican Bush voters? NO? You mean they're Democrats?!!! I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.
"All along we felt this was a misunderstanding and
they did nothing wrong," he said. "We see there’s an opportunity to improve our election process, so this doesn’t happen again."
"nothing wrong"?!!! Lying and cheating, normal Dim values. They don't even know or can concieve of the idea that it's wrong doing they're so ethically and morally "challenged".
Yeah,...it's ok to vote twice. Why not 3 or 4 times? Ooops, I forgot, that's normal "Democratic" policy and procedure.
ahhh San Juan is a suburb of McAllen
"...nobody is that stupid."
You'd be surprised! Why do you think they vote democrat?
Mission, McAllen, Pharr, San Juan, Alamo has grown into one continuous city. PSJA has a combined school district.
What is a "politiqueras"?
Most South Texans are US citizens, kitty. There are Mexican Colonias, however.
Politiqueras are female politiqueros.
I'm sorry,:^) they are hired political operatives, who get the dead and retarted democrats to the polls during elections in South Texas. And they get a lot of the mail in ballots sent in.
As long as people are not punished for this crime, there will be no incentive to stop it. This really ticks me off.
Must be Bush supporters...NOT.
Mexican corruption oozes north
It's only a couple/three miles from McAllen, between Pharr and Alamo on highway 83.
Think up any name that might belong to a city or town, add Texas on the end, and their probably is one. Mars, Jupiter and West are all Texas towns. West Texas isn't in west Texas however. It's north of Waco on I-35, between there and Hillsboro.
No you're not. Admit it! :)
it was a good jab.
They said "Don't worry, we do it thousands of times every election. Then we accuse the Republicans of voter fraud to cover our butts. It's no big deal. It's the new American way, don't you know?"
They're using pressure now. Damn, that's cold. At least the oldtime political bosses used to pay for votes. The price in San Antonio went to from a dollar pre-WWII to $5. the last I heard.
Voter inflation to match the voting rolls.
Just a sign of it's pending return to Mexico.
How do you think Kennedy got elected in 1960 and Johnson in 1964? This is the same-old, same-old that the Democrats have been running there since the election of 1932, at least.
President Nixon has been portrayed by the Dems and MSM as a completely bad guy, but in the election of 1960, when he was urged by his backers to contest the election because of irregularities in South Texas and in Chicago, he declined.
His reason: "It would not be good for the country--it would tear it apart."
Contrast that with Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004. Ask yourself (and the Democrats), "Who demonstrated the most real character and and highest ideals?
Not a chance.
Mexican corruption spreading throughout America. Sadly, America has few leaders who care as long as they're collecting their perks. Next year's congressional races should tell the story of a country who's had enough.
It's a done deal. We're waking up after the invation is over. They've won and all we can do is grumble about it. Teach your children Spanish. Face the facts and get used to the idea.
South Texas is a pathetic nest of corruption.
Draw a line from Eagle Pass to Corpus and just about every country has been ruled by the Rats since the end of Reconstruction. Then add in the fact that almost everyone of those counties have had scandels that in one way or another involved the FBI or the Texas Rangers coming into clean house only later for antoher group to come in and do the same thing. The counties that really do well in this state are those with a viable two party systems or at the very least have contested priamries on bi yearly basis. Most of the counties down here do not and it is apparent in our judcial system where the judges have been paid and bought for by the trial lawyers.
"Mexican corruption spreading throughout America. Sadly, America has few leaders who care as long as they're collecting their perks. Next year's congressional races should tell the story of a country who's had enough."
It's been in South Texas for decades.
By then there will have been 3 more Borderwatch ops. October, April, and October. The politicans will be sweating BUCKETS.
Help make it happen.
Vote early and vote often, solo!
Looks like a Mexican word. Welcome to the United States of Mexico.
For South Texas Minutemen go to:
http://www.minutemanhq.com/tx/
"...Johnson in 1964?"
LBJ wouldn't have been elected to the Senate if he hadn't bought thousands of votes in east and south Texas and stolen the democrat runoff primary from Coke Stevenson in 1948!
The 'Rats learn how to steal elections by practicing in their own, "a former democrat election judge".
Pavlovian Conditioning . . .
Hey Swinney! You live down here. You know that graft and corruption is the culture brought to us from Mexico.
What's wrong with this picture? I don't see anything wrong. It's a normal way of life down here in a society that emulates Mexico, not the United States.
Get a speeding ticket in Mathis and a little money under the table will erase all traces of the infraction. On second thought, you may not be a relative of the mayor, a member of the city counsel, or an important politico in that area.
So what happens when the mexican corruption oozing north runs into say the Chicago corruption oozing south........ ?
Cheers for the Minutemen!!
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