Scary sh*t:TX voters getting subpoenaed by repukes (over Vo)

[rainbow4321]

Ok, I know this may belong in the TX forum, but I thought it was a scary enough issue to put here for more people to see....the TX repukes have resorted to this in an attempt to keep Vo from being keeping his seat:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/metropolitan/2986820


The state House has subpoenaed scores of Houston-area voters who cast contested ballots in the November election that gave Democratic newcomer Hubert Vo a narrow victory over veteran Republican state Rep. Talmadge Heflin.

Vo will be sworn in and seated as the state Legislature convenes today but still faces Heflin's challenge of the election results before a special House committee.

The committee ordered the voters to fill out questionnaires or give depositions to lawyers representing Heflin and Vo. The subpoenas came as an unwelcome surprise to some of the more than 100 voters whose ballots are in question.

After a public hearing at the Capitol, the committee will make recommendations to the Republican-controlled House. House members can then uphold Vo's election, seat Heflin or require Gov. Rick Perry to schedule another election. Most of the allegations focus on 167 votes identified as ineligible by Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, who also serves as voter registrar. He has forwarded the list of irregularities to District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Most involve voters who cast ballots in the election after having moved from the district.

[Nikepallas]

1. Well, I guess they need to know who they will be sending to re-education

centers once BUSHCO builds them. We know now vote Dem and get sent to the judge. Unbelievable

[NVMojo]

2. this is American Gestapo...

[sendero]

3. This ...

... is what we should be doing. There are a lot more shennagins on their side than ours.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Yup, we talk about it .......

but they *do* it .... and by doing it they look justified while we look like whiners.

:::::looking in classifieds under "Balls 4 Sale":::::::

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. again.....

Republican = Nazi

[TheFarseer]

6. Holy crap! I could get subpoenaed!

I voted for Vo

[LSdemocrat]

7. How do they know who cast each ballot?

[TheFarseer]

9. great question - secret ballot anyone??

[muse]

11. They don't.

But they know that there were voters who shouldn't have voted in that district who did vote. They've gone through the records of who voted and found voters who really live outside the district. Some voters moved a couple of months before the election and voted in their old precinct. Stuff like that. So, they are making them fill out questionairres or give depositions.

Here's how the lawyers can find out which candidate they voted for (from the Houston Chronicle article):

Among the questions asked are where the voters live now, where they voted and for whom they voted.

Hartnett and Larry Veselka, who is Vo's lawyer, said voters cannot be forced to divulge how they voted unless the legislative committee determines that their vote was illegal. After such determination, however, a voter who refuses to divulge his vote can be held in contempt.

"If a person interferes with an election unjustly, they have no right of privacy as to who they voted for," Hartnett said. "Historically, I don't believe they have been forced, but that doesn't bind me. I have the ability to compel illegal voters to divulge who they voted for."

[NoPasaran]

16. In Texas, you can vote at your old precinct

If you move from one county to another, you need to re register.

But if you have moved within the county where you are registered and have not changed your address, you vote at your old precinct (you have to fill out the form to change your address at that time). So it is legal for someone to have voted for Vo who no longer lived in that district.

Interesting in the Chronicle story that the one person they interviewed who was ILLEGALLY registered (not a citizen) had voted Repuke.

[msongs]

8. good thing Hubert Vo is NOT John Kerry or he woulda conceded by now

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[LittleClarkie]

10. One difference darlin'

Vo won. He's King of the Hill in this case.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. GD. They even harrass the voters after they voted.

My question is, if the Republicans ratchet up the nastiness, and it works for them, why are the Democrats still afraid to meet them tit for tat?

[tsuki]

13. You can force people to tell who they voted for?

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. If the answer is, yes, why aren't we doing this kind of thing in Florida?

[baldguy]

14. "Among the questions asked are where the voters live now..."

"...and for whom they voted."

I guess the right to cast a secret ballot, and not to be harassed for it no longer exist.

Is it fascism yet?

[lavenderdiva]

17. here's a picture of Hubert Vo at the swearing-in today...

with his wife and daughter... Guess I could get subpoened too, I voted for him as well.

[TheFarseer]

18. This is sad

Hubert has done so much and come so far in life. He doesn't deserve this.