Published: 04-21-08
Abraham Lincoln said “Be sure you put your feet in the right place then stand firm.” That’s exactly what we are doing in our election contest. My legal team is examining every ballot and every voter qualification to ensure that the election was conducted honestly and according to the law. They have assured me that we are carefully preparing our case based on concrete facts and solid legal principles.
What I can tell you is that every item in our original petition has a given purpose within a strategic plan. Illegal votes were counted and legal votes were not counted in the March 4th election. Our court petition outlines seven compelling reasons the outcome of the election should be re-examined and lists numerous election code violations and other irregularities.
Our petition lists the voter numbers (not the names) of over 1000 voters who according to the official voters list from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office appear to have voted more than once. We did not create this official list of voters and we have done all we can to protect the privacy of individual voters but we are certainly going to bring this incredible anomaly to the Court’s attention. Are all of these “illegal votes”?
Of course not; nor does our election contest claim they are all illegal votes. The key point is: in an election separated by only 17 votes every vote should be carefully examined and every legal vote counted and every illegal vote not counted. Clearly my opponent(s) do not want the vote carefully scrutinized.
The task set before us is serious complex historic and precedent setting. It will take diligence endurance wisdom and patience. We are fighting not only for a clean and honest election but also for an election that will ensure confidence in our system.
Since our current primary election process is executed differently across counties and it is not electronic or robotic in nature it results in a plethora of information. With that I would like to thank all of our dedicated volunteers who have spent countless hours sifting through election records. I would also like to publicly acknowledge the cooperation of all the county and election officials which has been magnificent. As I’ve stated before this is simply an effort to “Trust but Verify”.
