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Some Harris County early voters upset by poll watchers
CAMPAIGN 2010
Complaints coming mainly from minority precincts
JOE HOLLEY
, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
October 18, 2010
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan expects to meet this morning with the county's Democratic and Republican chairmen after receiving complaints of possible voter intimidation on the first day of early voting on Monday.
The complaints came from predominantly minority precincts.
"We have a long way to go in this election, and we're committed to having it done lawfully and successfully," said Terry O'Rourke, first assistant Harris County attorney.
The complaints, he said, came from Kashmere Gardens, Moody Park, Sunnyside and other predominantly minority neighborhoods. The complaints included poll watchers "hovering over" voters, "getting into election workers' faces" and blocking or disrupting lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots.
"Keep in mind these are allegations of voter intimidation," O'Rourke said. "It's sometimes in the eye of the beholder."
'They're very limited'
Janie Reyes, who voted in Moody Park, said she witnessed poll watchers carrying on conversations with voters and clerks. "As I understand it, they're not supposed to be talking," she said.
"Poll watchers are as important in free elections as anything, and we are committed to allowing them to do their job, but they're very limited in what they can do," said Hector DeLeon, a spokesman for the Harris County clerk's office.
Any time the county clerk's office receives a call, DeLeon said, someone from the office calls the presiding judge at the precinct in question, discusses the allegations and reviews poll watcher guidelines. "We take every call seriously," he said.
Kevin Mauzy, chief deputy county clerk, said more poll watchers than usual showed up during the first day of early voting, and their numbers may have made some voters uneasy. "They're entitled to watch the process," he said.
True the Vote, a nonprofit organization founded by several Tea Party activists who go by the name King Street Patriots, had promised to verify voters' credentials at polling places, but it was unclear whether complaints involved members of the group.
"I'm pretty confident that's who it is," said Gerry Birnberg, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party. "Just connect the dots. No. 1, too much of the same thing was going on at each of the polling locations. No. 2, it's consistent with what they announced they were going to do."
Intimidation denied
Hiram Sasser, an attorney for the King Street Patriots, denied the group was intimidating voters. "The King Street Patriots don't have any registered poll watchers," he said. "Registered poll watchers work for either a party or a candidate."
True the Vote, Sasser said, is a project of the King Street Patriots, but it's not in a position to assign poll watchers. The party or the candidate with whom poll watchers are affiliated would be responsible for their actions, he said.
Birnberg acknowledged that pollwatchers have to be affiliated with a party or a candidate, but he contends the King Street Patriots are training poll watchers.
14 complaints received
Last month, True the Vote alleged that the integrity of the Harris County voter roll was under attack and took credit for uncovering flawed registration forms submitted by a nonprofit group called Houston Votes. Harris County Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez referred the matter to the county prosecutor.
DeLeon said the county clerk's office received 14 complaints of alleged voter intimidation at 11 voting locations on Monday, the first day of early voting for the Nov. 2 general election. Birnberg said his office forwarded about two dozen complaints to the county attorney's office.
"In any election year you get one or two over-zealous poll watchers, but this was a pattern throughout minority early voting precincts," Birnberg said.
"We hope it can be resolved by government authorities pointing out to these folks that they not only are acting undemocratically but blatantly illegally."
A total of 26,051 people voted at early polling locations Monday. That figure compares with 8,545 on the first day of voting for the 2006 gubernatorial election. Monday's total was more than triple the number from four years ago, but was not a record, DeLeon said.
"Obviously this election in Harris County, Texas, is important, not just because we're the largest county in Texas but also because of how it might affect the overall results," said O'Rourke of the county attorney's office. "It's our duty to investigate the complaints."