http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=685827c0e971511c&cat=42acbe017a594c30If I take $10 out of my checking account at an airport cash machine and fly half way around the world I'll find another cash machine reflecting $10 less in my account. But cast an illegal ballot in Texas and chances are, it will be counted.
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The simple fact of the Heflin/Vo race is that illegal votes decided the outcome of this razor-close election. In the race for House District 149, 41,357 people voted, with a scant 33-vote difference between the challenger and the incumbent, Heflin. Not widely reported is the fact that the special master determined that at least 162 illegal votes were cast. Because it could not be absolutely determined which candidate received the most illegal votes, the special master decided the race in Vo's favor by a mere 16 votes.
The master of discovery, Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, also uncovered deeply disturbing evidence of voter fraud in a neighboring district that siphoned off an additional 57 votes from our race.
In this scheme, now under investigation by the Harris County district attorney, 474 voter registration certificates of innocent voters were illegally switched to another district in an attempt to bolster the election chances of another candidate.Until we develop a system of computerized voting as secure as the banking system's cash machine network, there are changes in the law that could help weed out the illegal voting that is distorting electoral results across the state. These changes would also help us avoid the growing number of election challenges that almost inevitably occur after a close race.