Stop Thief
Heflin to contest election in House
And so it comes to this. Not waiting for Beverly Kaufman to even begin the recount, Heflin takes it to the House. One issue worth pointing out for the degree of support Heflin has in Austin ... that committee chair assignment that bumped Heflin out ... remember that? Critical to understanding this is that Craddick did not have a deadline or any other requirement to name the chair when he did. In other words, it was likely done in some part to give Heflin a hint. A hint Heflin hasn't taken. One Harris County Republican State Rep (pardon the "private sources" reference for once) has already indicated his lack of support for this fight. Curious now if Martha Wong will stand up and show some independence for another Asian-American politician in Harris County. Curious also if the already ethically-challenged Joe Nixon will show some integrity in calling for his district neighbor to step down graciously. Time to get a few people on the record.
Also a time to chip in some dough for Hubert Vo. Part and parcel of this effort by Heflin & Taylor is to outspend Vo in legal funds. These contests aren't cheap. So while you're doing your Christmas shopping, add something to Vo's kitty also.
These guys, I think it's worth a question or two as to where they stand on this process. If you get a response, be sure to let us know ....
The email format is pretty easy to comprehend, but I'm not sure if Corbin Van Arsdale's is the same what with there being a space in the name. The phone numbers are the Austin office first, district office second. A good starter question might well be to ask if the State Rep supports overturning the will of the people as certified by the Republican County Clerk.
Martha Wong Email
(512) 463-0389
(713) 526-WONG (9664)
Joe Nixon Email
(512) 463-0514
(713) 785-7373
Peggy Hamric Email
(512) 463-0496
(281) 890-1200
Joe Crabb Email
(512) 463-0520
(281) 359-1270
Wayne Smith Email
(512) 463-0733
(832) 556-2002
John Davis Email
(512) 463-0734
(281) 333-1350
Corbin Van Arsdale (email unknown)
(512) 463-0661
(281) 469-9130
Bill Callegari Email
(512) 463-0528
(281) 578-8484
Gary Elkins Email
(512) 463-0722
(832) 912-8380
Beverly Woolley Email
(512) 463-0696
(713) 629-6313
Dwayne Bohac Email
(512) 463-0727
(713) 460-2800
Robert Talton Email
(512) 463-0460
(281) 487-8818
Debbie Riddle Email
(512) 463-0572
(281) 537-5252
Full article C&Ped into extended entry since I archive longer than the Chron does.
Nov. 23, 2004, 11:25PMHeflin to contest election in House
Citing voting irregularities, he'll ask the Legislature to seat him or call for a new race
By JOE STINEBAKER
Copyright 2004 Houston ChronicleState Rep. Talmadge Heflin will ask the state House of Representatives today to overturn the results of his failed re-election bid and either order him returned to the Legislature or call for a new election.
Heflin's attorney, Andy Taylor, said the election results in state House District 149 in southwest Harris County were fraught with voting irregularities and potential fraud, most of which occurred in predominantly Democratic precincts.
"The true outcome of this election was stolen from the voters in House District 149," Taylor said Tuesday. "We will prove that Representative Talmadge Heflin was re-elected."
Heflin, a Republican member of the House since 1983 and chairman of its Appropriations Committee, lost to Democratic businessman Hubert Vo by 32 votes earlier this month. But Heflin's campaign alleges that those election results include at least 248 irregularities that could have altered the outcome.
Taylor said he will file notice today that the Heflin campaign intends to contest the election in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. That will require that House Speaker Tom Craddick order a House committee to investigate Heflin's allegations.
After the committee reports its findings, the full House will decide whether to seat Vo or Heflin or call for a new election. The House's decision will be binding, said a spokesman for the Texas secretary of state's office.
A decision by the House committee, which would have subpoena power and take depositions, would likely come no sooner than late January. The Legislature is scheduled to convene Jan. 11, and Vo would be limited to voting only on procedural matters until the dispute is resolved, the secretary of state's spokesman said.
Although there have been several election contests in the Texas House in recent years, none has reversed an election result, and most were withdrawn after they were filed.
Officials with the Vo campaign have said they are confident that their candidate won a fair election and have called on Heflin to concede.
Taylor said a review of county voting records from the Nov. 2 election shows that 101 voters were allowed to vote in the district illegally despite having moved out of Harris County. Twenty-seven voters were allowed to cast their ballots twice, he said ? once in early voting and again on Election Day.
The Heflin campaign also found at least 120 other cases in which ineligible voters were allowed to vote or eligible voters were not allowed to cast ballots, Taylor said. The overwhelming number of those irregularities occurred in Democratic-leaning precincts that supported Vo's election, he said.
"I don't know if that's the result of human error, negligence or outright intentional wrongdoing," Taylor said. "We won't know until evidence is obtained under oath in connection with our election contest."
Heflin and Taylor have scheduled a news conference this afternoon to discuss their plans for the contest. Taylor said the campaign also intends to forward its findings to Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.
Heflin's decision to contest the election is part of a two-pronged effort to return him to the Legislature. On Monday, Heflin requested a manual recount of all ballots cast in the election.
His best chance for recapturing his House seat probably lies with the election contest because the recount is not allowed to go into the issues of voting irregularities but must focus exclusively on the ballots cast in the election.
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, the county's voter registrar, said Tuesday that he was somewhat familiar with the Heflin campaign's allegations.
Bettencourt, a Republican, agreed that many of the allegations raised by the campaign would involve illegal votes, but he said such votes are not uncommon in large elections.
Bettencourt said that in the heat of conducting an election, precinct judges often mistakenly allow ineligible voters to cast their ballots or reject ballots from eligible voters.
The number of such complaints is usually too small to affect an election's outcome, he said, although it could have an impact in an election as close as the Heflin-Vo race.
joe.stinebaker@chron.com
Comments
Any Republican who says he doesn't want to vote on a contest is pulling your leg. Remember when Dewhurst said last year that redistricting was as welcome as the flu?
How many special redistricting session did he preside over? How big were the fines he approvced for the Senators in New Mexico?
This is part of the charade they put on before they do something despicable.
We have seen this already!
They learned with redistricting that they hold all the cards, they can change the rules when they want, and that they harder they push, the more they can get.
Anyone who thinks that results of election should matter needs to start pushing back.
Posted by: Ryan Stewart | November 24, 2004 10:33 AM
It looks like the state GOP may have their eyes on at least one, and maybe two other state House seats that they couldn't win in the election.
Do you know anything about these other two cases?
Posted by: Peter Bryant | November 24, 2004 02:05 PM