umm, i think Denny just managed to tack on her bill as an amendment to a senate bill earlier this week. But i also heard that certain senators are dead set against it.

Ahh, that would explain the certain someone's fear. Thanks!

Hey, I wouldn't want to meet Denny in a dark alley, but at least the Statesman knows she is a women, unlike Carter Casteel, who the AAS referred to as "he" in today's lead editorial.

oh, Lord, that is funny. They must have fixed it online, because it says "she". Darn it.
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/05/26vouchers_edit.html

And we all know that we can rely on those zealous senators to stick to their guns! Pbbbt!

This one is a filabuster not a vote even if a couple flake the job can still be done. There are five you can always count on.

Count on a Senator ha ha ha that's a good one!!!

This is rediculous. Everyone should have to show SOME kind of ID when voting. I mean, I honestly don't care if it's a Ralph's card, but you need something to validate that you're the person on the voter registration card. You have to have ID for EVERYTHING these days. You can't even get into a federal building without giving them your Social Security number.

Yeah, I see why it's such a big deal to have to show a picture ID to vote. Seems like a sensible thing to prevent voter fraud (well, if you overlook the HUGE problems with paperless, electronic voting).

Voting is a right -- you don't have to prove your entitled to it if you a voter registration card. Again, NO evidence of fraud was presented in committee -- the County Election Administrators of all the biggest counties -- Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, Bexar -- testified against it and said IT WAS NOT NEEDED. This is all about suppressing voters -- nothing more, nothing less. Get real.

NBC 5 from Dallas reported a few years back that, in some precincts, as many as 50% of the ballots are fraudulent in some way. That's in local elections.

Presidential election years are better, for some reason, but still as many as 25% of those ballots in those precincts are fraudulent.

Surprise, Surprise, they're in Dem Precincts, too. It's a problem in Highland Park too, though only around 2%.

Also, the chief clerks aren't the ones who see the fraud. It is the judges and clerks at the polls.

The judges are lucky if they have a voter card. Someone can come in with two pieces of mail with their name on it and if it matches the rolls, they vote. Who out there votes, but has absolutely no form of picture ID with them at any given time? This is not about robbing people of their right to vote, its about ensuring our elections are fair. Why do D's have a problem with that???

Something needs to be done.

Bring back the poll tax for everyone... budget problems solved! >

No voter fraud? What do you have to say about this?

Friday, June 3, 2005

Attorney General Abbott Obtains Voter Fraud Indictments In Two Counties
Hardeman County commissioner, Beeville woman indicted for mail-in ballot violations

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced his office’s first indictments for alleged voter fraud in Texas, returned in separate cases by grand juries in Hardeman and Bee counties.

"My office takes seriously the one-person, one-vote philosophy that has been the backbone of this country throughout its history," said Attorney General Abbott. "When the activities of even one person would undermine the electoral process, we will hold that person accountable."

Hardeman County Precinct 1 Commissioner Johnny Akers, 58, was indicted late Thursday on six counts of election fraud in Quanah. The Texas Election Code violations involve alleged unlawful methods for returning completed ballots during early voting by mail. During the April 2004 primary runoff and November 2004 general elections, the indictment alleges, Akers personally handled or mailed ballots for six persons unrelated to him over several days, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to $2,000 on each count.

On May 27, Beeville resident Melva Kay Ponce, 53, was indicted in Bee County on a charge of illegal voting. She allegedly posed as her deceased mother during early mail-in voting in the November 2004 election. Illegal voting is a third-degree felony punishable by two to10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Ponce mailed an application for a mail ballot to the Bee County Clerk’s office for her mother, Dominga Ponce, on Oct. 15, 2004, when her mother was still alive. Her mother died of natural causes on Oct. 20, and two days later the clerk’s office mailed a ballot addressed to Dominga Ponce. Despite her mother’s death, Melva Kay Ponce filled out the absentee ballot in her mother’s name. She then mailed the completed ballot back to the clerk.

The Bee County Voter Registrar, Andrea Gibbud, contacted the Bee County Sheriff’s Office about the suspicious ballot, knowing Ponce’s mother had died before the ballot could have been completed and returned.

The Attorney General’s Office investigated the allegations of election fraud at the request of the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

-30-

I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.

I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.

I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.

I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.

I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.

I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.

I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.

I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.