Posted on 04/30/2004 5:42:55 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Recount lawsuit ruling to be made in Laredo
BY MATT JOYCE Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN - Attorneys for Henry Cuellar Thursday accused U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of improperly "trolling" for ineligible voters in his effort to overturn election results after a recount of the District 28 Democratic primary.
Cuellar's team made the arguments at a hearing as they began studying a list of about 260 Webb County voters that Rodriguez's camp identified as possibly illegal.
Steve Bickerstaff, a Cuellar attorney, urged District Judge Joseph Hart of Austin to dismiss Rodriguez's lawsuit partly because Rodriguez failed to specify his complaints when he originally contested the election.
"You can't plead generally and then amend," Bickerstaff said. "What the court cannot be required to do is be in the position of allowing this kind of wholesale effort to try to find voters that are, in this case, unregistered."
Hart, a former judge who is serving as a visiting judge because he does not live in District 28, said he will decide Tuesday in Laredo whether the case should advance. A trial would then begin on May 10 or May 11 in Laredo.
Rodriguez, a seven-year incumbent from San Antonio, disclosed the list of alleged problem voters after filing an amendment to his lawsuit on Tuesday claiming numerous voter improprieties.
The allegations included voters suspected of registering at addresses where they didn't reside and listing addresses at abandoned houses, vacant lots or nonexistent addresses.
Bickerstaff said Rodriguez's staff was "trolling to find specific individuals that may or may not have registered at specific addresses."
Rodriguez's lawsuit was a response to a recount in late March that introduced 400 new votes in Webb and Zapata counties. The additional votes boosted Cuellar past Rodriguez by 203 votes out of a total of more than 48,000 cast. Prior to the recount, Rodriguez was ahead by 150 votes.
The Texas Democratic Party has certified Cuellar as Democratic nominee, pending the outcome of the Rodriguez legal challenge.
Buck Wood, an Austin lawyer representing Rodriguez, said his investigative team has yet to inspect voter registration rolls in Zapata or Bexar counties. District 28 runs along Interstate 35 from San Marcos to Laredo.
"We believe we'll be able to prove at trial that we have enough (votes) to overcome the difference in the election," Wood said.
Bickerstaff argued that allowing the case to move forward would set a bad precedent by allowing losing candidates to contest an election on any grounds and then begin searching for the best way to have the outcome reversed.
Rodriguez's lawyers countered that their contested case is not unusual.
"What's being done here has been done in every single election contest I've been involved in," Wood said.
Bickerstaff also said that Rodriguez's voter investigation would intimidate and discourage voters from participating in the future.
"(Voters) are left in the position of 'How do I avoid this? I don't vote,' " Bickerstaff said.
Wood said that Webb County has seen many contested elections, and the county still saw a 40 percent voter turnout in the most recent election _ the highest turnout in the state.
Cuellar said he's confident that his recount victory will prevail.
"I'm ready to get this election out of the courtroom and into the field and run against the opponent in November," he said.
Rodriguez or Cuellar will face Republican Jim Hopson in the Nov. 2 election.
04/30/04
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