Illegal Election
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If you voted in last November’s Harris County election you were cheated!
A judge may have decided there won’t be new elections, but the folks who broke laws and denied us a fair election shouldn’t be getting away with it.
Because now we know we had an ILLEGAL ELECTION!
The headlines tell you just part of the story in our year long fight for fair and transparent elections. Our message has always been clear.
But that hasn’t been enough for our highly partisan county attorney who has leveled outrageous claims that legal challenges to the November 22 election were somehow racist.
Was quick to celebrate the judge’s ruling.
“It’s time to move on folks,” Christian Menefee declared on X.
No so fast Christian. We actually read the entire judges opinion, and you know what, he actually agrees with what we have been exposing for a year.
Clifford Tatum, the guy who ran last year’s November elections for Harris County; he broke election laws.
And Menefee should step down now for trying to help him get away with it
He continues to hide 2022 election day communications a full year later.
I made the case on FOX 26 What’s Your Point, on the Sunday show.
He’s the guy that protected these illegalities after they were exposed. He knew it. Right. They lied to the judges. These guys are so partisan and this process now – I agree with Bill – this process is in much better hands.
Let’s quote San Antonio judge David Peeples. the quote the media hasn’t shared with you.
“Damage was done to the public’s confidence in government, pre-existing distrust was deepened. Partisan suspicions were inflamed,” wrote Judge Peeples.
“Had the EAO simply tried to obey the legislature, twenty-one election contests might have been avoided” the judge wrote.
“The judge was obviously really really critical of the county,” said Erin Lunceford.
Erin Lunceford lost her election challenge even though Judge Peeoples determine the illegal votes were more than the votes separating her and her democratic opponent.
Wayne Dolcefino asked, “The headlines don’t tell the story, do they?”
Erin Lunceford responded, “No. That’s the problem is everybody sees what they headline is but they don’t read the stuff.”
One of those illegal acts last November resulted in ballot paper shortages at dozens of precincts. Judge Peeoples said that had “tragic consequences” for voters.
State election law clearly required 25% more ballot paper at polls last year than there was in 2018.
“Ironically the EAO did the opposite of what the legislature had mandated,” read the ruling.
Tatum’s office provided just 600 ballots per poll. Regardless of turnout numbers four years before. It was a recipe for disaster on election day.
That shortage was felt the most in the west side. Which has fewer polling locations despite more registered voters.
No one will never know just how many republican votes were turned away.
But Judge Peeoples gave his opinion without any way to know for sure.
2600 voters, he said, who tried to vote at their polling places of choice left without voting.
That didn’t include voters discouraged by long lines who voted elsewhere because of machine malfunctions.
A recent audit by the secretary of state reported 38 polling locations experienced a gap in voting by an hour or more.
Peeples could only guess how many people didn’t find someplace else to vote. He thought up to 850 people.
“I would have liked to have a little more explanation of how we came up with that number but, I don’t know there was one,” said Erin Lunceford.
But the failures last November were significant.
There were 966 people showed up at the polls and told election judges they didn’t live in Harris County. But they were still allowed to vote anyway.
“The 900 people who put down that they didn’t even live in the country, I mean who would let them vote,” said Lunceford.
But the judge may have doled out his harshest criticism to the successful election day legal effort by the Texas Organizing Project to extend voting hours from 7 to 8 pm.
The effort was bolstered by statements of voters outside the Baker Ripley polling location where top monitors had conveniently been posted.
That poll opened four hours late. No equipment was set up and when it was no one could find the key.
Wayne Dolcefino asked, “Do you think it was intentional what they did?”
Cynthia Ducommun, “I think so, I really do.”
The San Antonio judge expressed his deep concern about the way the election day extension was sought and obtained, calling it inexcusable.
First, TOP tried to get the extension without even notifying the republican party about the hearing. They found out anyway, expressing concern about ballot paper shortages.
The counties lawyers went along with the extended voting hours, denying republican complaints that nineteen polling locations had run out of ballot paper, reassuring judge craft it was under control.
“Well, I’m not going to call anyone a liar, but they certainly weren’t telling the truth. Put it that way,” expressed Lunceford.
Judge Peeoples said it best, Christian Menefee’s office wasn’t looking for the truth, but a way to help the democrat in the race.
“The county attorney’s office was obviously aligned with defendant Craft,” read the ruling.
Judge Peeples showed us all the effect of that extra hour of voting.
“From seven am to seven pm on election day the margins in countywide races were generally 52 to 48 for democrats. From seven pm to eight pm the range was closer to 59-41 percent,” read the ruling. A lot of polls didn’t stay open or had run out of paper.
Judge Peeples said because of that extra hour in the Lunceford Craft race, Judge Craft benefited by herself 325 votes.
We’ll never know just how many votes were not cast, the judge ruled while the “clearly affected votes slightly exceed Craft’s margin of victory,” it was not enough to overturn that election.
“You know, we’ll never be able to prove that was intentional, but certainly it was total incompetence,” expressed Lunceford.
Lunceford argues the same thing I do. Partisan election of judges has given us some judges who had never tried a case in a courtroom before being elected.
“But this election system and the way we elect judges is so screwed up. I mean electing judges on a partisan basis is ridiculous,” expressed Lunceford.
In a separate probate court judicial race challenge, Judge Peeples ended the case, arguing breaking news that no one has been monitoring the Harris County voter registrations properly came into the case too late.
There’s still a lot to clean up. We know there are dead folks who asked for ballots in 2020 from the grave.
How many felons got to vote? Out of 100 recently convicted felons we checked; a quarter had active voter registrations.
And who else voting here, doesn’t live here?
“I don’t understand why that’s so difficult to clean up,” said Lunceford.
Now that Tatum is out of the picture, we’re told the checking has started again. That’s good news.
“The key to the election is you have to make sure every legal voter has an opportunity to vote, and that illegal votes and illegal voters are not counted,” said Steve Mitby.
The lesson is clear to Steve Mitby, the lawyer for Alex Mealer. She dropped her election contest over the county judge race in the days before the judge’s ruling.
“Our democracy is way too important to leave it in the hands of partisans and people who have a stake in the outcome,” continued Mitby.
Mitby says republicans should have filed lawsuits after the first election administrator screwed up the primary last year. It might have shown the illegal activity going on before last November’s controversial vote.
“It doesn’t make sense to wait until you’ve had a heart attack to go to the doctor and that’s essentially what happened here,” said Mitby.
County clerk Tenesha Hudspeth reported a much smoother election this time.
But that was a mayor’s election, just 250 thousand votes. We’ve asked for records to document how much voting equipment was broken this time. Let’s see if Christian Menefee tries to hide that too.
And remember turnout in Harris County next year, a presidential election will likely be more than a million voters. Four times higher than the mayor’s election.
And the court ruling may spell possible good news for tammy pierce, she lost the race against soft on crime Judge DeSean Jones by just 449 votes.
Judge Peeples has already said there were five times the number of illegal votes than the votes separating the two. Far more than she needs for a new election.
It shouldn’t have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars to squeeze the truth out of this deeply partisan Harris County government.
That’s unforgivable to hundreds of thousands of Harris County voters.
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