Nacho Guarache: The ultimate sacrifice
Posted on 06/30/2004 5:12:52 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
SAN ANTONIO - A state appeals court on Wednesday agreed to a new hearing to reconsider last week's ruling in a voter fraud lawsuit brought by U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.
The entire seven-judge 4th Court of Appeals will hear arguments on whether Rodriguez should be allowed to challenge the eligibility of hundreds of voters in Webb and Zapata counties who cast ballots in the March 9 Democratic primary.
Rodriguez, a seven-term incumbent from San Antonio, trails Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar by 58 votes in the race for the Democratic nomination in Congressional District 28, which runs along Interstate 35 from San Marcos to the Mexican border.
Last week, by a 2-1 majority, a 4th Court panel overturned a lower-court judge who had ruled that Rodriguez could not use the voter eligibility issue in court because it had not been raised before a legal deadline.
Rodriguez contends that the issue was raised in a timely fashion. His legal team says it has found several hundred cases of improper voting in Webb and Zapata counties, where Cuellar received more than 80 percent of the vote.
The dissenting judge wrote a harshly worded opinion accusing his colleagues of misapplying the law and contradicting previous rulings by the same court.
The appeals majority ordered that Rodriguez be given a new trial in Laredo, but Cuellar quickly asked for a so-called "en banc" hearing that would include the entire 4th Court.
This is the first time in more than a year that the appeals court has granted an en banc hearing at the request of a party involved in the case in question, according to court records.
Rodriguez has until July 6 to submit his arguments for the rehearing.
Was their vote fraud? Of course. We're talking south Texas Democrats.
Are the state courts down there also part of the problem? Ask any honest observer.
Hot CHILES! Love a goooooood RAT fight!
Nacho Guarache: The ultimate sacrifice
Priceless!
This means that Cuellar wins. The only two RAT judges in the circuit were the two who voted to allow Ciro to re-open the voter eligibility issue even though he hadn't mentioned it before (and, more to the point, even though their eligibility wasn't challenged before they cast their votes). Given the fact that we have no chance of winning the seat in November with Jim Hopson as our nominee (given our lack of recruiting in the district, our only chance was if Laredo Hispanic Republican Quico Canseco won the GOP primary and San Antonian Ciro stole the RAT nomination and caused Laredo Hispanics to vote for Quico), I hope Cuellar wins the RAT nomination (which is tantamount to election) because (i) he's actually a moderate, not a liberal like Ciro, (ii) he gets along great with W and there's an outside chance he may someday switch to the GOP, and (iii) I don't like it when people steal elections by cherry-picking counties to recount or to exclude voters.
Appeals court grants Cuellar new hearing
(Texas CD 28) Ping to article and to cartoon in post #4, hehe ! .....
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
Thanks for the ping, mm. Love that funny SS. That's the way dems in Louisiana get some of their votes.
Great cartoon in post #4. Thanks for the ping.
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