Vo-Heflin hearing Thursday January 27

[NoPasaran]

The special committee hearing on the contested election in District 149 will be from 8 to 5 Thursday January 27 in the Reagan Building Room JHR 140. The Reagan Building is in the Capital Complex on 15th Street at Congress Ave. Overflow seating will also be provided in the Reagan Building.

[sonias]

1. Thanks for the heads up

I'll be there for some of the time. I can't make it by 8 though.

Won't this be streamed on the web?

Sonia

[NoPasaran]

2. Yes, it will be streamed

http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php

[natureman]

3. I hope Vo prevails

I contacted my state representative and asked her to support Vo and do everthing she can to keep the repugs from stealing this one from us. Don't know if it will do any good. Oh well!

[ChicanoPwr]

4. Time change

Thursday, 1/27/05, 9:00 a.m. - District 149 Election Contest Public Hearing.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php

[PDittie]

5. Watching now n/t

Stream is being frequently dropped, though.

[crispini]

6. Update us, eh?

I can't stream @ home...

[WestHoustonDem]

7. What happened? I just got in. Thanks

[PDittie]

8. The attorneys are still quarrelling over "evidence"

Voter depositions, residence challenges, etc. Pretty dry stuff.

Seems to be continuing in this 'discovery' phase this afternoon.

[WestHoustonDem]

9. Thanks. I picked up the stream and it's really boring stuff right now

[PDittie]

10. latest from chron.com:

Illegal ballots led to the November defeat of longtime Republican lawmaker Talmadge Heflin, his attorney today told a legislative tribunal charged with considering the election challenge.

<snip>

In opening arguments, attorney Andy Taylor said most improper voting came from people living outside the district. He also claimed some people voted twice, didn't register, had questionable signatures or weren't U.S. citizens.

"That margin was decided not by those who cast legal ballots in the race, but by those who cast illegal ballots," Taylor said. "We're not going to allow people to come in and decide who's going to represent us when they don't live here."

Vo's attorney questioned the voter information cited by Heflin's legal team, saying too few people were interviewed to prove the election should be overturned.

"This matter should be brought to a close at this time as a matter of public policy," said Larry Veselka, who said Vo actually won by 37 votes. Veselka also argued that much of the information from voters came from telephone interviews and was "inadmissible hearsay."

Thursday's arguments were made before Republican Rep. Will Hartnett, who has been named "master of discovery" in the case. Hartnett will make a recommendation to a committee after the hearing, likely next week. The committee will then make a recommendation to the full House, which will vote to seat one of the candidates or call a new election.

Heflin, who has been a fixture in the Texas House for more than two decades, watched the proceedings from the front of the room, occasionally taking notes.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3011286

[WestHoustonDem]

11. Andy Taylor is a slimebag. I met him at the recount. n/t

[PDittie]

12. From Harvey Kronberg's Quorum Report:

HARTNETT SIFTS THROUGH HD 149 EVIDENCE ONE ILLEGAL VOTER AT A TIME
Taylor claims ten vote victory for Heflin while Veselka says Vo won by 37

In his role as Master of Discovery, state Rep. Will Hartnett (R-Dallas) went through the painstaking process of deciding which evidence to accept on day one of the House District 149 Election Contest today.

Sometimes, Larry Veselka, attorney for Rep. Hubert Vo (D-Houston) and Andy Taylor, attorney for former Republican lawmaker Talmadge Heflin, would agree that a certain voter was not legally entitled to vote in HD 149 but, in deposition, had said they had. Other times the two sides could not agree.

Vo sat in at the beginning of the hearing but soon departed for the House floor. Heflin sat next to Taylor throughout the day.

While proceedings were conducted in an orderly fashion inside the committee room in the John H. Reagan building, outside it was a media circus, particularly during breaks in the hearing.

http://www.quorumreport.com/buzz/buzz.cfm

(rest of the story subscribers only)

[gmoses]

13. Texas Civil Rights Review

With Republican lawyers checking a nearby room for files of new evidence Thursday, and a Texas Legislative Master of Inquiry saying that the legislature may take an interest in the “total number of illegal ballots” the election victory of Houston Representative Hubert Vo was narrowed but not overturned in the first day of a hearing that will continue into Friday.


Although official discovery period for the unusual legislative challenge ended in December, Republican attorneys produced 22 new depositions this week and in some cases held up the Thursday inquiry while they checked a nearby room to see if fresh depositions were there on file.

In the hearing that lasted until 7:30 Thursday evening, specially appointed Master of Inquiry for the election contest, Will Hartnett (R-Dallas) sifted through some 50 allegations of illegal voting, ruling informally that two of the cases were illegal ballots for the Republican challenger, while 12 were deducted from Vo’s side.

Those numbers were added to an initial roster of about 80 cases where lawyers for both sides agreed there were 36 illegal ballots cast for the Republican, 44 for Vo. At the end of the day a net 18 votes were deducted from Vo’s 33-vote election margin, narrowing the race, but not overturning it.....

http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/