The Texas Democratic Party won a major fight last Friday by forcing Leo Vasquez and the Harris County Voter Registration office to admit to using voter suppression tactics. Additionally, Rep. Scott Hochberg played a key role in unearthing the details about how the office was rejecting tens of thousands of voter registration ballots. (Read more about those details below the fold...)
TDP Chair Boyd Richie released the following statement about the settlement:
“From my first days as Chairman, the Texas Democratic Party has worked vigilantly in both the legal and legislative process to protect Texans’ right to participate fully in our democracy. The Texas Democratic Party will monitor the current Harris County Voter Registrar’s practices with that same vigilance to make sure the terms of this agreement are carried out properly.
“It’s a shame that the Texas Democratic Party has been forced to go to court time and again to do what our state and local officials should be doing – protect the right to vote. As a great Texas Democrat, President Lyndon B. Johnson said in 1965: ‘It is wrong--deadly wrong--to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.’”
The lawsuit settled a number of lies that Vazquez, Paul Bettencourt, and other Harris County Republicans had been pushing for months. As the Lone Star Project explains:
Earlier this year, in a hostile and dishonest op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, Leo Vasquez, responded to Lone Star Project reports detailing corruption within his office by calling Texas Democratic Party legal action a ”nuisance lawsuit” with “no merit” and saying that the “partisan attacks” were led by the Lone Star Project. (Source: Houston Chronicle, 6/16/2009) However, Vasquez was forced to acknowledge in the settlement that the TDP lawsuit was based on facts that showed the Tax Assessor's office had engaged in improper behavior regarding the handling of voter registration applications and the handling of provisional ballots.
Vasquez would not have agreed to the settlement if he did not believe that there was a strong chance that he would lose the lawsuit and more corruption would be uncovered.
Here's a look at the lies Leo told -- and the truth he finally admitted in the lawsuit settlement:
Leo's Lie
The Facts
“It is also my highest priority and the goal of the employees of the tax office to register every eligible voter in Harris County.”
24.4% of those applying to register to vote in Harris County were denied registration in time to vote in the 2008 elections. (Source: TX Secretary of State and Harris County Voter Registrar)
“These attacks are nothing more than partisan witch hunts”
As part of a court settlement, Vasquez acknowledged widespread voter registration problems detailed by the Lone Star Project. Vasquez was forced to accept more than a dozen changes insisted upon by Democrats to protect the rights of Harris County voters. (Source: Houston Chronicle, 10/23/2009)
Commenting upon Ed Johnson, Vasquez said, “There is nothing illegal about this activity, and it has nothing to do with his [Johnson’s] official duties with the tax office.”
While refusing to fire Johnson outright, Vasquez has acknowledged the Johnson is unfit to serve as Associate Voter Registrar and has reassigned him within the Tax Office. (Source: Houston Chronicle, 8/1/2009)
Responding to the Lone Star Project’s call to fire Ed Johnson for working as a paid Republican campaign consultant while also on the County payroll, Vasquez said, “This assertion is preposterous …”
Vasquez acknowledged the obvious conflict of interest and, as part of the legal settlement, was forced to initiate a policy prohibiting outside work as a partisan political consultant. (Source: Vasquez Settlement, 10/23/2009)
I think everyone should congratulate the Texas Democratic Party for taking the lead on work that should have been done by Harris County elected officials -- but was not, for obviously corrupt reasons.
More on the history of this story below the fold...
Harris County Criminal Court Judge Donald Jackson has been indicted on a charge of misdemeanor official oppression.
Sources close to the investigation tell 11 News that Jackson allegedly told a female defendant things would go better for her in court if she submitted to his sexual advances.
KHOU will have more on the story at 5pm and 6pm; if you're in the Houston area, be sure to watch. We'll update more as the story develops...
4:07pm Update:The following is a statement from Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg:
Today's indictment of Harris County Criminal Court Judge Don Jackson is another shocking and disappointing example of the citizens of Harris County being terribly let down by another Republican official in a county controlled by Republican officeholders.
Last year Harris County voters removed 23 incumbent Republicans from the bench and replace them with 23 new Democratic judges, sending a message that they are tired of the way Republican judges had been running things at the courthouse for too many years now. Republican corruption, incompetence, and lack of integrity have marred county government for too long now. The indictment of Don Jackson is just one more example of that kind of taint, as he follows in the footsteps of Chuck Rosenthal, Tommy Thomas, Jerry Eversole, and other Republican officeholders who have betrayed the public trust.
Democrats remain committed to changing all that and to improving our local judicial system by offering superbly qualified candidates of the highest ethical standards, who are dedicated to the fair and even-handed administration of justice for all who enter their courtrooms, without soliciting favors - financial, sexual, or otherwise - from folks who appear before them.
Harris County residents deserve more and better than what the indictment of Don Jackson alleges he provided.
The Texas Democratic Party doesn't stand for anything. To win, our candidates must offer a compelling vision of change.
It is not enough to have an excellent field staff, to have a good media campaign, to have a great yard sign campaign, to have attractive/experienced/qualified candidates. It is also necessary to make a strong case for change.
KHOU-TV in Houston last night aired a powerful story about Republican voter suppression tactics in Harris County, tactics being carried out by GOP Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt.
Valid voter registration certificates are being wrongly and illegally rejected by the registrar. Meaningless typos, nicknames or spellings that don't match a spurious comparison to a driver license database, any excuse is being used to reject the voting applications of full U.S. citizens whose Constitution guaranteed them the right to vote. Why? Because a few Republican officials fear these voters are about to vote against them. Rather than try to persuade them, to win their favor by adopting policies that might appeal to them, the GOP is, in Houston, in Texas, and around the country, conducting the most massive national voter disenfranchisement campaign in history.
Republicans have been pressing for sweeping voter purges in many states. They have also fought to make it harder to enroll new voters. Voting experts say there could be serious problems at the polls on Nov. 4.
It is an easy thing to stir the anger of progressive Texans over this issue. They are rightly outraged. But I have many Republican friends and family members who just don't know this is going on. Though we disagree on many, many, things, not one of them that I've spoken to condones the denial of a citizen's right to vote. That right is the very essence of democracy. That's so fundamental it sounds like a superficial truism that should need to further argument or justification.
Voter suppression is not new. Back in 1982, Republicans were embarrassed when a so-called "felons list" was sent by the GOP Secretary of State to local voter registrars with instructions to purge the names from voter rolls. The list was laughably inaccurate. A Democratic candidate for the House with no criminal record whatsoever turned up on the list. A humiliated SOS dropped the whole thing.
In the past, some have dressed up as police or border patrol to intimidate would-be voters at the polls. Unfounded challenges to voters have been raised at the polls. Minority voting precincts have been shortchanged on voting machines and ballots in hopes that long lines will discourage voting. Phone calls are made into Democratic precincts giving wrong voting locations in inaccurate instructions.
Next session, many Republican leaders hope to pass a bureaucratic, duplicative and unnecessary voter identification requirement whose only purpose is to make it harder for U.S. citizens to vote.
I don't think BOR has many GOP readers. So I hope you will take the time to pass this message or a message of your own to Republican friends, neighbors, family members and colleagues who might be among the uninformed on this issue.
Some details from the KHOU story below will shock them. I believe we need their help to protect the right to vote in Texas. We can yell at them, or make them allies on this issue. I think the latter will be far more effective. We don't need to use incendiary language to sanctimoniously prove our own commitment to voting rights. We need others to join us in the fight to protect that right.
Readers might be interested in this email I received from Sarah Weddington about the Harris County Judge race.
Dear Friend,
You know how politically active I am and how intensely involved I am
regarding issues that impact woman's health and reproductive rights.
Typically I focus on federal or state races in this regard. However,
there is a particular Harris County race that we need to pay very
close attention to as well.
The Harris County Judge is the equivalent of the "Mayor of Harris
County". For example, the Harris County Judge oversees the Harris
County Hospital District. The person is this position can have a
tremendous impact upon woman's health concerns locally.
David Mincberg is currently running for the position of Harris County
Judge. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin School of
Law. He is a long-time friend of our issues and is a past board member
of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas.
His opponent Ed Emmett is the polar opposite. His record when he
served in the Texas House of Representatives shows that he twice voted
to eliminate family planning funding. Had either measure passed it
would have cut funds to Planned Parenthood. He also failed to support
an amendment providing that parental consent for abortion would not be
necessary for a teenager who had been raped and voted to require
parental consent in cases of incest.
Access to appropriate woman's health care in Harris County should not
be subject to someone with knee-jerk approval of the Texas Republican
Party platform. (See excerpts from that platform I've attached FYI.)
Emmett hasn't been publicly discussing his views on choice much; some
even think choice is not a big issue for him. I am sending this email
because in many ways Emmett is no different on our issues than the
most vocal of opponents. And there is a great candidate also in that
race.
David Mincberg provides us a viable option to ensure woman's health
and reproductive rights in Harris County. We need to get him elected.
Please make a donation by visiting www.mincbergforcountyjudge.com.
Forward this email to as many of your friends as you can and urge them
to support Mincberg.
Early voting begins soon. Please use the address in the prior
paragraph to contact his campaign if you have any questions.
Thanks in advance for your help. It is vitally important that we make
2008 a great year for the choice community!
Virtually every Democrat in Harris county hopes that the local party can replicate what its peers in Dallas did in 2006. It's more than just partisan bickering, too. Every countywide office is held by a GOP member, and power has gotten to their heads. No government can work like that; period.
(And Houston has thought that it might one day secure an Olympic Games -- let's secure overall good government, first. Theoretically, that should be easier.)
Matt Angle of the Lone Star Project thinks that this power is only increasing the chances of Republican loss:
With each passing day, the all-Republican county leadership in Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, is demonstrating why they should be replaced. Virtually every Republican county-wide office holder is directly or indirectly involved in an ethical or administrative scandal.
To help facilitate the arrival of good government, the Lone Star Project has launched a Republican Rap Sheet. Here you can examine the misdeeds of the Republican sheriff and Republican chief executive officer of the county.
And then at that point, we'll know why we're voting against them.
Talk about the need to unite the party! It seems we were able to come out of the convention uniting behind Obama, but what about behind the Texas Democratic Party?Many delegates were upset by the following quote in the BOR interview with Boyd Ritchie “Our focus needs to be on down ballot races and let the Presidential race take care of itself.”This quote has been interpreted to mean the Chairman of the Texas Democratic party is not concerned about Texas “being in play “ to quote David Van Os, for the Presidential campaign, despite his endorsement of Obama.Combine this quote from Chairman Ritchie with the Pre-Convention release of the Lone Star Project“Pick a Dozen State Representatives Lotto”(my name), where they release their opinion of the 12 most likely to succeed House Representative Candidates, and it seems like same old, same old in Texas- when all else fails lower your expectations.
Both the Party, the House Democratic Campaign Committee and the Lone Star Project have been notorious for picking elections on which to focus often pulling major donors along with them, and leaving “less likely” candidates with little hope or help: meanwhile our National companion, the DNC encourages “everyone to run”- we know this helps strengthen the base.
This, I believe was the impetus for David Van Os to throw his notorious hat in the ring. After Boyd Ritchie won, I was dismayed that he did not take that moment to assure us that he would be supporting all campaigns.
However, as progressives and grassroots activists, we know a vote beats a dollar every day. It is the work we do for candidates, in voter registration, and in getting out the vote that will make the difference up and down the ballot in November. Join your local club. Support your local county party.
Tonight is the night that Obama became the "presumptive Nominee." The timing could not be more interesting for the Texas Democratic Convention which convenes June 6. I cannot help but wonder what this means for all the pre-convention negotiations between Obama Delegates and Clinton Delegates, block voting, people who are considered party "regulars" and people who feel that they finally got a voice in the party.
On the other hand, the convention is not just about Presidential politics; it is about building the Texas Democratic Party of the future- and on this our concerns should be united on the basis of what our most common beliefs are; not the beliefs that separate us as Clinton and Obama supporters, but the beliefs that separate us aa Democrats and Republicans. At the convention we should be looking to put together the best teams to move Texas forward.
Nationally, Texas has a significant impact. However, the impact of our local choices in Democratic leadership, candidates, policy and strategies are something that we not only have greater control over, but can indeed have a significant impact on our day to day lives and the quality of life we enjoy in our cities, neighborhooda, and schools.
So, while we wait for the National party leadership to make peace or not with the results of the primaries, our selection of leaders for both the Texas Democratic Party, its committees and Senate Districts should reflect the peace and cooperation we need to move forward productively and that we want to see at our Party's National level. In our Counties and even in our precincts, neighborhoods and clubs, where the differences between colleagues supporting different Presidential choices have made things tense, it is time to come back together, and show our National Party leaders how to unite. We can afford nothing less.
Dot Nelson Turnier
dothcdp@earthlink.net
Harris County Democratic Party
www.hcdp.org
As you all probably know, I am the Democratic Nominee for the 151st Civil District Court of Harris County, Texas. This is the county that contains Houston. It is a huge county, with 1.9 million voters. Bigger than many states.
For about 15 years, since Ann Richards was defeated by Shrub, the Republicans have dominated this state, and this County. There are zero county-wide Democratic office-holders. Our County Judge (head county official), Sheriff, DA, County Attorney, Tax-Assessor/Collector, County Clerk, District Clerk, all of our county court and district court judges, appellate judges and all through the state Supreme Court are all Republicans.
Houston, in contrast, has a Democratic Mayor (Bill White) and a Democrat dominated City Council.
