By MARY HELEN FLORES
Citizens Against Voter Abuse
Mary Helen Flores
Building a Better Cameron County, Pt. 2
A politiquera or politiquero is any person paid to illegally solicit votes. Politiqueras/os come in all forms. Some are peers of the adult daycare population. Some are home health care providers. We have even begun to see a few to be people put in positions of authority, such as case workers for state offices responsible for helping the aged and disabled or licensed social workers with a client base of vulnerable people in need. Those who steal votes and manipulate the vulnerable in this way have absolutely no respect for our country or for all the military men and women who have sacrificed to protect and defend our nation. They subvert our democracy and they silence our voices.
Every vote stolen or manipulated by politiqueras and politiqueros is taken under the guise of giving the voter “assistance” with their ballot. For many years, elections in Cameron County have been stolen via the use of fraudulent mail-in/absentee ballots. More recently, votes have been stolen via the curbside vote. This happens when adult day care clients are driven en masse to polling places during early voting and “assisted” to vote a certain way by the drivers of these vans. In most instances, these voters never asked for assistance with their ballots. In most cases, these voters do not legally qualify to receive assistance with their ballot, be it mail-in or curbside vote.
Sec.64.031. of the Texas Election Code states, “A voter is eligible to receive assistance in marking the ballot if the voter cannot prepare the ballot because of: (1) a physical disability that renders the voter unable to write or see; or (2) an inability to read the language in which the ballot is written. *It is important to note that, in Texas, all ballots are written in English and Spanish.”
Sec.64.036. UNLAWFUL ASSISTANCE, “A person commits an offense if the person knowingly: (1) provides assistance to a voter who is not eligible for assistance; (2) while assisting a voter prepares the voter’s ballot in a way other than the way the voter directs or without direction from the voter; (3) while assisting a voter suggests by word, sign, or gesture how the voter should vote; or (4) provides assistance to a voter who has not requested assistance or selected the person to assist the voter.”
If a person is voting by mail, they must mail their carrier envelope containing their ballot themselves. They should never give their carrier envelope containing their absentee ballot to anyone else. If another person handles the mail-in ballot application, or the mail-in ballot or carrier envelope, they must document such on the space provided on each of the corresponding documents. To omit the information is a violation of law.
If a person is voting curbside and needs assistance, then the election judge and election workers are the ones to legally provide such assistance. Should the voter choose to take their own assistant that person must take a sworn oath administered by the election judge and sign said oath prior to providing assistance to a voter at a polling place.
Other ways in which votes are stolen and manipulated are stated in our state election code under Sec.64.012 ILLEGAL VOTING. “A person commits an offense if the person: (1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which they are not eligible to vote; (2) knowingly votes or attempts to vote more than once in an election; (3) knowingly impersonates another person and votes or attempts to vote as the impersonated person; or (4) knowingly marks or attempts to mark another person’s ballot without consent of that person.
Please take the time to look out for loved ones who may be targeted by politiqueras and politiqueros. Don’t allow our elderly or infirm to be exploited for their votes. We can put an end to the theft and manipulation of our elections. Everyone can make a difference by being aware of the rules that guide our system and by documenting and reporting any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities: Cameron County Elections – (956) 544-0809; Texas Secretary of State – (800) 252-VOTE (8683); FBI – (956) 546-6922.
Citizens Against Voter Abuse are people working together to build a better Cameron County through research and education. Please contact us at (956) 280-5965 if you were turned away from a polling place and were not allowed to vote in the May 10 municipal or school board elections.
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Interesting article. I appreciate people like Mary Helen who are advocates for our rights and citizens like the elderly who are often coerced into doing some thing unwillingly. A certain SW cones to mind (rhymes with Pon). I understand that CAVA has now gotten a hold of certain flyers that were circulating during the election. Go Mary Helen! All the power to you!
These vote harvesters are the lowest of the low! As US citizens we are guaranteed open and honest elections free from fear and intimidation.
During the early voting at the City the citizens saw it first hand who was doing the intimidating…even opening the door for voters! CAVA will bring a lot to light, and some people may even go to JAIL!
Finally there will be justice in our election process moving forward. People in our community know there has been voter fraud going on for years simply because the people committing it brag. This past school board election was probably the most obvious voter fraud ever displayed because nobody wanted certain incumbents re-elected and they got re-elected with a total of number of votes that just don’t make sense. It’s sad because our rights where violated by greedy, power hungry idiots. I have total faith in CAVA that they will expose the corrupted and clean this election mess up. Our voter rights will never me tampered with again, thanks to awareness and CAVA..
The crook oscar de la fuente is still involved in san benito politics. We need to see what politicians are involved with him because those will be the ones we can’t trust