More errors surface in missing voter registration probe
Joanna Hensley
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News
Voter registration has been a source of confusion for the two weeks following Election Day, when dozens of would-be voters were turned away at the polls. Now, new numbers are entering the equation.
Voter Registrar Deputy Lana Stevens said more than 100 voter registration cards were rejected or mailed out of the county and this could account for most of the approximately 125 voters who trained election official Colby Reynolds estimated were unable to vote at the Embarq voting location of Nov. 4.
Stevens said 54 voter registration cards were mailed to other counties because the addresses on them were not in Erath County.
She said another 57 registration cards were rejected because they were missing information. These cards were missing signatures, birth dates and names of residential halls for physical addresses.
The case of the missing registrations led to an evaluation by Stevens, who was assigned the task of going through each of the 38 registration books submitted to the Erath County Tax Office by the 35 volunteer deputy registrars who helped register voters.
Upon the conclusion of the Stevens' evaluation, Erath County Tax Assessor-Collector Jennifer Carey is expected to turn information over to District Attorney-elect Jason Cashon. Cashon will then decide whether or not to pursue any legal prosecution in the matter.
Cashon said it is difficult to hypothetically assess what legal prosecution could result from Stevens' evaluation.
"There's no way to know yet because you've got to know what happened, if anything," Cashon said.
Cashon said that he began studying Chapter 13 of the Texas Election Code after Carey contacted him about the missing registration information. The chapter outlines the conduct and obligations for volunteer deputy registrars.
From what he has observed in Chapter 13, Cashon said prosecution could range from no offense to a class C misdemeanor to a third degree felony.
Cashon said he does not anticipate the case beginning before he takes office on Jan. 1.
Voter Registrar Deputy Lana Stevens said more than 100 voter registration cards were rejected or mailed out of the county and this could account for most of the approximately 125 voters who trained election official Colby Reynolds estimated were unable to vote at the Embarq voting location of Nov. 4.
Stevens said 54 voter registration cards were mailed to other counties because the addresses on them were not in Erath County.
She said another 57 registration cards were rejected because they were missing information. These cards were missing signatures, birth dates and names of residential halls for physical addresses.
The case of the missing registrations led to an evaluation by Stevens, who was assigned the task of going through each of the 38 registration books submitted to the Erath County Tax Office by the 35 volunteer deputy registrars who helped register voters.
Upon the conclusion of the Stevens' evaluation, Erath County Tax Assessor-Collector Jennifer Carey is expected to turn information over to District Attorney-elect Jason Cashon. Cashon will then decide whether or not to pursue any legal prosecution in the matter.
Cashon said it is difficult to hypothetically assess what legal prosecution could result from Stevens' evaluation.
"There's no way to know yet because you've got to know what happened, if anything," Cashon said.
Cashon said that he began studying Chapter 13 of the Texas Election Code after Carey contacted him about the missing registration information. The chapter outlines the conduct and obligations for volunteer deputy registrars.
From what he has observed in Chapter 13, Cashon said prosecution could range from no offense to a class C misdemeanor to a third degree felony.
Cashon said he does not anticipate the case beginning before he takes office on Jan. 1.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Losing Weight
posted 12/21/08 @ 12:20 PM CST
It is not a good thing when all the votes are not counted. It is important to correct any errors being made.
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