Maverick County: This May Not Be Isolated

by: Vince Leibowitz

Tue Apr 11, 2006 at 05:17 PM CDT

First, I've received several emails asking what people in Maverick County should do if they voted early. I'll get to that in a second.

Next, it's time to address what's happening now and what should happen.

Word from my sources across the state indicate that this may not be an isolated incident. A company called ES&S was responsible for the printing of the ballots in Maverick County. They printed ballots for a total of 144 Texas Counties.

Given that, there is a distinct possibility that Radnofsky's name was left off the ballot in multiple counties. This is very problematic.

For the Secretary of State to say this (even happening in one county) isn't a problem is way, way off the mark.

Secretary of State Roger Williams is a longtime GOP ally and Rick Perry contributor. His office has already been accused of being incapiable of running a non-partisan election by Carole Keeton Strayhorn. And, while I don't care for Strayhorn, she may have a point on this one.

The fact is that the SOS needs to immediately audit the ballots in all other counties in Texas to make sure Barbara Radnofsky's name was not left off any other ballots. Second, the SOS should rightfully refuse to accept any numbers from Maverick County because the election was improperly conducted (ie, a candidate's name was left off the ballot).

For those of you in Maverick County who voted early, my personal thoughts are after the jump.

My personal advice if you voted early in Maverick County is as follows:

GO IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR POLLING LOCATION AND DEMAND ANOTHER BALLOT. IF THEY TURN YOU DOWN, GO TO THE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. Legally, you may have  no standing to request another ballot, but you should do so anyway.

I say this because it is important that a record be preserved of people going on the record and complaining about this egregious error. If it becomes necessary in the future, any voter being disenfranchised from voting their choice due to an error by the ballot manufacturer may give you or the campaign appropriate standing to challenge the results at a later date.