Peña selected chair of new Hispanic Republican caucus

State Rep. Aaron Peña and other members of the newly-formed Hispanic Republican Conference have selected voter fraud as an issue they want to address this session.

Peña, the Edinburg legislator who switched to the Republican Party in December, was selected chairman of the conference that he said will advocate for Hispanic issues within the Republican Party. Among those issues he said the conference should tackle is abuse by politiqueras in mail-in ballots and through assisted voting.

Peña said a voter ID bill passed along party lines in the state Senate will prevent voter impersonation but is unlikely to stop the majority of voter fraud.

“I do think that passing voter ID will give voters a greater sense of confidence in their elections,” Peña said. “Polls show that citizens overwhelmingly support voter ID, but there’s much more to be covered in terms of the abuse of elderly in adult daycare centers (through mail-in ballots) and the voter assistance problem we saw grow out of Hidalgo County.

“(Voter ID) is a good start, but it’s only a start.”

Five Republicans of Hispanic descent, all freshmen legislators, join Peña on the conference. But two Anglo Republicans who represent districts with 40 percent or more Hispanic population have also joined with another, Dwayne Bohac of Houston, considering an invite. Ten other Republicans representing districts with 30 percent or more Hispanic population were also invited to join the conference as associate members who will not have voting rights.

More legislators could join the group once Census figures are released next month that should show new districts that meet the conference’s threshold for Hispanic population. There were no Hispanic Republicans in the House in the 2009 legislative session.

The Hispanic Republican Conference formally met for the first time Monday to select officers and begin identifying legislative priorities. Peña said the group is reviewing immigration-related legislation to determine whether the caucus will take a position on more than 50 bills filed thus far.

“More of the Republicans have been looking to us from the border for some leadership” on immigration, Peña said. “As a group, we can have a strong say in the direction of some of the immigration-related bills.”

But the first priority will be voter fraud, Peña said. Although the group won’t take a position on bills until they are voted out of committee, he said, the conference could support bills that stiffen criminal Peñalties for voter fraud and make it easier to prosecute. He said some members would like to give the Attorney General authority to prosecute voter fraud, and he said he personally would like to see a bill that reduces the number of voters a person can assist.

In March’s Democratic primary, 14 percent of Hidalgo County voters requested an assistant. State law allows voters to bring someone into the polling booth with them if they have a physical disability or cannot read the ballot, but election workers are not allowed to inquire whether a person qualifies for an assistant.

A Monitor review of election documents from March found politiqueras were often assisting dozens of voters.

Since Peña switched parties in December in his heavily Democratic district, he’s had to balance his new position in the GOP with the values of the Hispanic voters he represents. Peña, who says he remains the same legislator as before with only a different letter following his name in the newspaper, was critical of the first draft of the budget that he said was damaging to his district, one of the poorest in the state. He’s also been outspoken about the state’s need to protect higher education from deep budget cuts and continue to place a priority on border security.

Peña said the Republican Party needs to listen to the viewpoints of Hispanics if it wants to increase its attractiveness to the state’s fastest-growing population.

 “Demographically speaking, if Republicans do not get in tune with the Hispanic population, they will cease to exist as a relevant party in this state,” Peña said. “But the same is true for Democrats, who for decades took us for granted. Now because of the leverage we achieved in the last election cycle, they’re forced to compete (for the Hispanic vote).”

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.