Posted on 11/23/2004 7:53:42 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN — Up to three defeated Republican legislative candidates soon could ask the GOP-majority Texas House to declare them the legitimate victors because they claim the Nov. 2 outcomes likely were tinged by fraud.
But an election-law expert who often consults Democratic candidates discounted the likelihood of the contests Monday, which he described as both rare and futile.
Austin lawyer Buck Wood predicted no candidate ultimately will attempt a contest.
"It's a waste of their time," Wood said. "If you get real lucky, you might get a new election, at which point you get your ass plastered."
If the candidates contest the elections by the Thursday deadline, the House would be asked to judge the elections after lawmakers convene in regular session Jan. 11.
Legislators could uphold initial results, overturn them or order Gov. Rick Perry to call another election.
A Karnes City Republican who lost by more than 800 votes said Monday he intends to file a contest of the results due to "hundreds of irregularities," including people voting who were not registered to do so.
Eric Opiela, who lost to Democratic candidate Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles of Alice by 835 votes, said he will file his contest before recounts he has requested in Bee, Karnes and Jim Wells counties begin Monday.
Gonzalez-Toureilles suggested Opiela report any evidence of wrongdoing to authorities, adding: "If he brings it to the House floor, I'll hire a lawyer and take whatever action my legal counsel deems necessary."
Opiela spoke after defeated Houston Rep. Talmadge Heflin decided to fund a recount in his race and San Antonio Rep. Ken Mercer chose not to do so in his loss — with both candidates holding out the possibility of election contests.
Heflin, who lost by 32 votes to Democrat Hubert Vo, will reach a decision by Thursday, his lawyer said.
Mercer's campaign manager said Mercer will not seek a recount in the District 117 race he lost to Democratic candidate David Leibowitz by 498 votes out of nearly 40,000 votes cast.
But Gene Ryder said Mercer is considering contesting the outcome in the House.
In a contest, according to law, a House member is appointed as a "master of discovery" by House Speaker Tom Craddick. That member gathers facts and gauges whether a contest is frivolous.
The master then would make recommendations to a House committee, which would draft findings of fact and conclusions to give to the full House.
House members presented with the committee's work could order Perry to call another election or if it can "ascertain the true outcome of the election" — either through verifying the tallies or finding irregularities — and name one candidate the victor.
Last week, Craddick replaced Heflin with Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, as chairman of the pivotal budget-drafting House Appropriations Committee.
At the time, Taylor said the change made sense since Heflin would likely be unable to perform leadership duties until his election is resolved.
Craddick hasn't spoken publicly on prospects for a contest, though spokesman Bob Richter said: "I'm sure he'd rather not have a contested election because of the divisiveness it brings with it."
"I agree," said Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, a member of the House Elections Committee. "Where do we draw the line? What number of votes do you lose by to determine if we're going to have a contest or not?"
Uresti, recalling partisan bickering in 2003 when Republicans prevailed in the congressional redistricting battle, said he hopes a contest doesn't occur.
"It's going to tear apart the House and start us off on the wrong foot," he said.
In the past quarter century, the victor in three legislative races contested in the House ended up being the person judged ahead on Election Day.
In 1993 and 1995, the Democratic-majority House seated Republican candidates over Democrats who contested results.
In another Bexar County instance in 1981, Democratic Rep. Al Brown contested GOP candidate Alan Schoolcraft's 1,038-vote win at the polls. The House ordered Gov. Bill Clements to call another election with members voting along party lines and siding with Brown.
Schoolcraft, who beat Brown by more than 9,000 votes in the subsequent election, said Monday the contest offended local voters partly because Brown challenged voters in the military casting absentee ballots in state and local races while they were stationed overseas.
"There's going to be a huge backlash even if it is a valid contest," he said. "It's going to be tough on everybody."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- gselby@express-news.net
Staff Writer Rebeca Rodriguez contributed to this report.
Its kosher for Democrats to overturn election results on the basis of fraud. <sarcasm
Tells you who their sources are.
Heflin's margin is so thin, I can't imagine anyone would take it personally. On the others, I doubt they'd discover enough votes to warrant a special election.
You people caused it! You left the state!
"It's going to tear apart the House and start us off on the wrong foot," he said.
It will probably uncover some serious fraud. The problem is that vote fraud never overturns an election unless the beneficiary can be shown to have orchestrated it. You can never prove that the fraudulent votes actually went to the winner (this is how the ruling came down on Bob Dornan's loss). What it can do is put low-level Democrats in jail. That's key.
Ping
This is why the USA needs a complete voting overhaul. Dem fraud now is rampant and should be exposed dispite the MSM lethargy in covering this voting story. No double registration in two states should be allowed. No voting illegals, the dead, or same day registrations. Unless the Pubs put this on the front burner, 2006 and 2008 will be chaos.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.