Progreso mayor: County-run elections not the solution

Progreso will continue to run its own elections despite statewide concerns surrounding the validity of recent city and school board votes, the city's mayor said.

Mayor Omar Vela maintained local election judges are best equipped to identify voters who should be turned away at the polls because they live outside precinct boundaries.

State law requires anyone presenting a valid voter registration card should be allowed to cast a provisional ballot that can be challenged later if need be.

But outside election monitors wouldn't "know who these people are just by looking at them," Vela said. "Our judges, they know."

Several Vela critics complained during the city's November municipal election that they had been barred from voting by partisan election judges who told them they did not live within the city. The dust-up led some to call for the Hidalgo County Elections Department to administer the school board race in May.

But the mayor and his supporters maintain that while some of those voters had registration cards linked to Progreso addresses, they lived outside the city and were not eligible to vote. He said he has no plans to ask the county to serve as an impartial elections administrator.

"We always run a fair election," the mayor said. "It's hard for people who live outside the district to know what's going on."

The row is only the latest in a string of questions raised about voting within the city. Earlier this month, a handful of affidavits emerged accusing the mayor and his family of organizing an illegal voting campaign during the May 2008 school board race to ensure their continued political success.

Vela has held his office since 2003. Three of his brothers also hold prominent positions on the city commission and school board.

Many of the affiants said they had been paid by Vela or his father, Guadalupe, to vote under other people's names. One of the women, an illegal immigrant, testified that she was even guided through the process by Vela supporters.

The mayor denied those accusations during an interview last week and accused his opponents - including former challenger Eleazar Perez - of rallying their own crew of unlawful voters.

Since losing his May 2008 bid for the city's top job, Perez has waged war on the Vela family by initiating investigations through various state and local authorities, said Guadalupe Vela who has played an active role in his sons' political careers.

"The people are supposed to make you win," he said. "Not the AG's office. Not the Secretary of State."

The dispute between the Velas and Perez in this staunchly Democratic city caught the attention of Texas Republicans.

Arguing in favor of a so-called "Voter ID" bill, Republican state Senators suggested that requiring voters to present photo identification or two alternate forms of ID before casting a ballot could root out the Progreso's problems.

Democrats have argued the bill would disenfranchise low-income and elderly voters who are less likely to have driver's licenses, and make up the majority of Progreso's residents.

The Senate past the measure on March 18. It now awaits debate on the House floor.

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.