Posted on 08/20/2005 8:45:21 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Women accused of voting twice in San Juan election
EDINBURG — A grand jury indicted two women Wednesday for voting twice in the San Juan city election.
Maria Louisa Rodriguez and her daughter of the same name were charged with illegal voting, a third-degree felony that carries a two to 10-year prison sentence and a maximum $10,000 fine.
"It’s not fair because (the politiqueras) pressured us to do it," the daughter said. "They told us to go ahead and vote again because it was all right."
The politiqueras who brought the mother and daughter to vote for a second time were identified in an internal city memorandum as Cindy Rodriguez, wife of City Commissioner Bobby Rodriguez, and Vicki Loredo, wife of ex-mayor Robert Loredo.
The memo was written by City Secretary Vicki Ramirez, who accepted the Rodriguez ballots outside City Hall.
Cindy Rodriguez and Vicki Loredo drove the two women to the polling location, according to the memo.
District Attorney Rene Guerra said neither of the politiqueras would face charges.
The grand jury’s investigation into the San Juan election is over, he said.
"The grand jury sees fit to indict who they want," he said. "The problem’s always going to be with the burden of proof."
Bobby Rodriguez said his wife was unavailable for comment but expressed relief that she would not face criminal charges when contacted Wednesday.
"We’re ecstatic. All along we felt this was a misunderstanding and they did nothing wrong," he said. "We see there’s an opportunity to improve our election process, so this doesn’t happen again."
Maria Louisa Rodriguez and her daughter had initially cast their ballots during the
early voting period before Election Day.
Information available to Ramirez when the mother and daughter came to vote in person did not reflect that early vote, Ramirez said.
In a separate election scandal in McAllen, the grand jury could hand down indictments as early as next week, Guerra said.
Allegations of a votes-for-money scheme involving McAllen mayoral candidate Ric Godinez’s campaign first surfaced after it was revealed 80 percent of that election’s mail-in votes were cast for the 39-year-old attorney.
While Godinez ended up losing to Mayor Richard Cortez in a runoff election June 18, his campaign attracted attention once again when a McAllen watchdog group released their review of the mail-in ballot applications earlier this month.
Of the 316 applications reviewed — roughly one third of the total received — Futuro McAllen claim 96 percent to have been illegally prepared.
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James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
Allegations of a votes-for-money scheme involving McAllen mayoral candidate Ric Godinez’s campaign first surfaced after it was revealed 80 percent of that election’s mail-in votes were cast for the 39-year-old attorney.
South Texas is a pathetic nest of corruption.
Strange, nowhere did I see their political party mentioned.
I wonder why.
hmmmmm.
You win the kewpie doll!
City elections are "non partisan" in Texas!;^)
Yeah! I'm really puzzled about that myself. Green Party, you think?
San Juan, ??? Puerto Rico?
The article never mentions where.
McAllen I know is in Texas, but I never heard of a San Juan, Texas.
South Texas is occupied by Mexicans. They should not be voting in any elections except those in Mexico. Squatters do not have voting rights in the US...yet.
Lame-o BS excuse, nobody is that stupid.
Let me guess, they're all conservative Republican Bush voters? NO? You mean they're Democrats?!!! I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.
"All along we felt this was a misunderstanding and
they did nothing wrong," he said. "We see there’s an opportunity to improve our election process, so this doesn’t happen again."
"nothing wrong"?!!! Lying and cheating, normal Dim values. They don't even know or can concieve of the idea that it's wrong doing they're so ethically and morally "challenged".
Yeah,...it's ok to vote twice. Why not 3 or 4 times? Ooops, I forgot, that's normal "Democratic" policy and procedure.
ahhh San Juan is a suburb of McAllen
"...nobody is that stupid."
You'd be surprised! Why do you think they vote democrat?
Mission, McAllen, Pharr, San Juan, Alamo has grown into one continuous city. PSJA has a combined school district.
What is a "politiqueras"?
Most South Texans are US citizens, kitty. There are Mexican Colonias, however.
Politiqueras are female politiqueros.
I'm sorry,:^) they are hired political operatives, who get the dead and retarted democrats to the polls during elections in South Texas. And they get a lot of the mail in ballots sent in.
As long as people are not punished for this crime, there will be no incentive to stop it. This really ticks me off.
Must be Bush supporters...NOT.
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