On Amadi and Missing Voters
HoustonChronicle.com - Vote fraud suspected in House District 137
Imagine my heart stopping with a headline like that. As one who engaged in LAWFUL voter registration in District 137, it's enough to give anyone pause for concern.
In this case, though, it was Bernard Amadi who "registered" a slew of African immigrants to show them as being in District 137. The thinking, apparently, was that it would help him win his March 2004 primary against incumbent Scott Hochberg. Suffice it to say, but Custer had a better game plan in Little Bighorn.
Cate Read offers (sorry, only via email notice thus far):
Last week during the Heflin-Vo Hearings in Austin, an allegation was presented by Heflin's GOP lawyer Andy Taylor that a group of votes should be removed from Vo's total because the voters "illegally" voted in the HD149 race, while their registered addresses showed they resided in HD137. Taylor's assessment was that these voters were "illegally" allowed to "cross over" and vote in the HD149 race. As it turns out, these "illegal" voters were in fact legal residents in HD149, but were apparently "moved" into HD137 by Democratic Primary candidate Bernard Amadi, who ran an unsuccessful race against State Rep. Scott Hochberg for the Democratic nomination.
So which way will the dynamic duo of Andy Taylor and Paul Bettencourt have it? Are the votes to be disallowed in 149 due to their "residing" in 137? Or is the case against Amadi correct in that the voters should be in 149?
And what of Bettencourt specifically? In turning over the Amadi case to the District Attorney for investigation, does he not suffer from a conflict of interest in his role as voter registrar-in-chief while he states with certainty the number of voters who are illegally registered in 149?
Seems there's no version of the law these characters are willing to stick with for more than a day.
In sum, voters were registered out of their 149 residence without their knowledge. Unkown (at least publically) is whether they were counted as voting in the 137 primary. If so, one presumes they may have been magically voted for Amadi - so the master plan didn't work there. But for the ones who voted in 149 while their illegal Bettencourt-approved voter registration showed them as residing in 137, how is the show trial in Austin counting these votes? Inquiring minds want to know.
Oh, they also want to know the whereabouts of Amadi. As his Precinct Chairman and resident of the same apartment complex, I have yet to spot him. So I'm of no help there.
UPDATE: After a quick round of shaming Cate into updating her blog for the first time in about 6 weeks, she's on the case now. Welcome back, Cate.