Posted on 02/26/2004 11:07:50 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
EDINBURG — Texas Secretary of State Geoffrey Connor wants an investigation into the ballot-tampering claims made by four Hidalgo County voters earlier this week.
Connor requested the assistance of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to look into complaints filed by four county residents that at least four mail ballots were tampered with.
"We’re drafting a letter to the attorney general’s office that will be sent today," said Jennifer Waisath, director of communication for the secretary of state. "The matter in Hidalgo County over the mail ballot issue is now in the hands of the A.G.’s office for a full investigation."
The letter sent by Connor to the attorney general, and obtained by The Monitor, indicates that Connor believes several criminal election offenses may have occurred.
"If these allegations are true, several criminal election offenses may have occurred including unlawful assistance, unlawfully influencing a voter and illegal voting," Connor wrote. "I have enclosed a courtesy copy of a newspaper article from the McAllen Monitor, dated Feb. 25, 2004, detailing the alleged criminal conduct.
"In accordance with the recently adopted policy between our offices with respect to alleged criminal election law violations, we are hereby referring these allegations to your office for investigation," Connor wrote.
Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Teresa Navarro hopes the state investigation will be fully under way shortly.
"It could be — the attorney general moves quite quickly," Navarro said. "They are swift and they don’t just send one person down, they send two or three."
Two voters from Weslaco and two from the North McAllen/South Edinburg area contacted Navarro on Tuesday, claiming their mail ballots had been tampered with.
Navarro said the voters should have received a blank ballot to fill out that they would then place in an envelope, sign the back of the sealed envelope and mail to the elections department.
Instead, the four voters said they received a sealed envelope with a ballot already inside, along with a note asking them to simply sign the envelope and mail it.
Navarro contacted the secretary of state’s office Tuesday afternoon and asked for assistance. An official from the A.G.’s office contacted her on Wednesday and told her that an investigation had been opened, she said.
The A.G.’s office would not comment on the matter.
Tom Kelly, spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, said once they officially receive a letter requesting assistance from the secretary of state, they will "exercise their independence and latitude" to determine whether they pursue the investigation.
The four voters have been cleared by the elections department and can vote in person on their own, Navarro said. The mail ballots in question remain sealed and are being held under lock and key until the investigators arrive, she said.
Also on Wednesday, a fifth voter came forward about a problem with his mail ballot.
"A mail ballot was returned to the elections department, which is unusual for the post office, for them to mark it as ‘moved,’ " Navarro said. "The voter said he was told by a politiquera that the ballot was going to be mailed to his home. And he assumed that is what she would do."
A politiquera is a paid representative of a political candidate. The fifth voter claimed the politiquera to whom he referred sent his mail ballot to an address other than his home.
The address on the voter’s registration card and the address to which the ballot was mailed do not match, Navarro said.
"We don’t know the name of the politiquera, but we’re in the process of trying to obtain that information," Navarro said.
All five voters who complained of problems with their mail ballots are older than 65. State law protects their identities, Navarro said.
"I’m disappointed because I don’t know how I can prevent someone from going to a voter and tampering with their (mail) ballot," Navarro said.
Anyone caught tampering or stealing mail could face some pretty stiff penalties.
"The crime would be considered mail theft," said Vanessa Kimbrough, a U.S. postal inspector. "It’s a felony that carries penalties of up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines per piece of stolen mail."
Kimbrough said mail carriers aware of stolen mail are supposed to report it to the postal inspection service.
"In anyone has information about these cases, they should call the inspection service in Houston at (713) 238-4400," Kimbrough said.
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Alma Walzer covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4422.
Ryan Gabrielson covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4462.
"In anyone has information about these cases, they should call the inspection service in Houston at (713) 238-4400," Kimbrough said.
As always, a FReep mail will get you on or off this Houston/Texas topics ping list.
It would be interesting to know what the 2000 numbers would have been if ALL fraudulent votes had been discovered and discarded. My guess is President Bush won by half a million.
First Massachussetts, then San Francisco. Now Texas.
That's why no party affiliation was mentioned. However, I think we all know who was responsible. This is Texas. Why would the Republicans tamper with ballots when they already know they will win?
-PJ
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