Elections bill could reduce problems from voters

EDINBURG — Virginia Townsend still gets phone calls to complain about voter fraud more than a month after the municipal elections.

Townsend, the head of the government watchdog group Objective Watchers of the Legal System, said a bill waiting for the governor’s signature won’t eliminate the calls from residents of the county’s smaller cities. But by allowing them to petition the county to run their elections, she said, residents who perceive rampant voter fraud can ask an outside group to conduct their polling.

“At least people have an option,” Townsend said. “They can’t say they have nowhere else to turn.”

The bill, pushed by the OWLS and sponsored by state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, allows residents of cities with populations of 20,000 or fewer to gather signatures from 1 percent of voters to force their entities to contract with the county’s election department.

The measure was spurred in part by allegations of voter fraud from a faction of Progreso residents who complained about how their city and school district elections are run.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office is currently investigating the allegations that voters cast ballots in other people’s names.

Townsend, a supporter of the divisive voter identification measure that failed in the recently ended legislative session, said the new bill is the best option short of voter ID to end some of the complaints. The voter ID measure would have required voters to show a photo ID or two other forms of identification before casting their ballots.

Hidalgo County elections administrator Yvonne Ramón said the county can do little if voters complain about fraud in elections the county is not running.

Ramón, who previously lobbied for more entities to contract with her office, said allowing her agency to run the elections would alleviate some concerns that residents of Progreso and other cities have about their elections.

All entities are responsible for adhering to the same election code. Getting the county involved won’t stop people who attempt to game the system, Ramón said, but county elections officials are trained on how to handle them.

“It wouldn’t be the answer to everything, because when we run elections, we certainly run into problems,” she said. “Nothing is perfect.”

Still, Fern McClaugherty, a member of the OWLS, said the county could be relied upon to run a fair election if called upon by residents who gather enough names on a petition.

“We just want fair voting,” McClaugherty said. “That’s all we’ve ever asked for.”
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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.