Posted on 12/01/2006 12:47:42 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Bexar County's elections chief said late Thursday that early voting for the runoff in Congressional District 23 is back on for Saturday — a move flouting the Texas secretary of state.
Bexar County commissioners earlier this week voted unanimously to start early voting Saturday, adding two days to the voting schedule set by Gov. Rick Perry. Their vote came in response to petitions filed by Democrat Ciro Rodriguez's campaign and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
However, the secretary of state's office challenged the county's authority to add days, prompting Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen to withdraw her plan Wednesday and revert to the schedule set by Perry, which had early voting beginning Monday.
Callanen reversed herself Thursday.
"I believe it was the right thing to do when they submitted the petition," she said. "I think (the authority) ultimately resides in my office, and we're going to honor the petition."
When told of Callanen's move, Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said, "The election code and state law don't give the county the authority to do that."
Her decision came the same day lawyers for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed an emergency motion in federal court in Tyler asking the court to prevent state officials from holding off early voting in the runoff until Monday in Bexar County.
Also on Thursday, LULAC, a civil rights group, alleged that Perry tried to suppress the Latino vote by setting the date for next month's runoff in Congressional District 23 on a Catholic holy day.
In a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, the League of Latin American Citizens complained that by setting the election for Dec. 12, El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, Perry, a Republican, deliberately attempted to discourage Latino citizens from voting.
Luis Vera Jr., LULAC's general counsel, noted in the letter that Perry chose a different day for a special election for a state representative seat in Matagorda and Brazoria counties.
"The state representative district is predominantly white-Anglo population and would not be affected by 'El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe,' whereas the 23rd Congressional District which is predominantly Hispanic Catholic is adversely affected by setting it on the holiest of religious holidays," Vera wrote.
"There can possibly be no other reason for the different dates than an attempt to suppress the Latino vote."
Perry's office could not be reached for comment.
Vera said LULAC plans to file a lawsuit in federal court in San Antonio today in an effort to stop the election from going forward.
Under the federal Voting Rights Act, Texas must receive approval ahead of time from the U.S. Justice Department when scheduling federal elections. Vera's letter asked the Justice Department's Voting Rights Division not to grant that approval.
Neither candidate — Republican incumbent Rep. Henry Bonilla and Rodriguez, a former congressman, — supports LULAC's decision to challenge the runoff date.
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jstroud@express-news.net
There are 20 counties in District 23, not one, Bexar Co.!
TX-23 On/Off Ping!
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