Vote Early And Vote Often

An article in Monday's San Antonio Express-News noted that "Sixteen small counties across Texas appear to have more registered voters on their rolls as of 2010 than qualified citizens of voting age." The article carefully skirts the issue of voter fraud, much less the controversy over Texas' voter ID law that is currently being tortured to death in the courts. However, other commentators have noted the long and colorful history of the somewhat informal approach to voting in South Texas.

... elections in South Texas have not always been left to chance. In May, Texas Watchdog, an independent investigative website, provided a startlingly detailed look at political corruption in Jim Wells County, due south of San Antonio and named after a nineteenth-century Democratic boss. Reporter Steve Miller showed how the grunt work of vote harvesting is performed by politiqueros, tactfully translated as “canvassers” (“fixers” if you’re politically incorrect).

One of the politiqueras, Zaida Bueno, not only went on the record but, with cameras rolling, also showed Miller how the process of vote-coaching and absentee ballots actually works. At the going rate of three dollars for every successfully returned ballot, personal contacts generate volume — and volume counts. Meant to aid the aged, the infirm and the illiterate as well as genuine absentees, Ms. Bueno was forthright about why manipulation of the less fortunate is modest but steady work. “I have to push [the candidates]…to push their name.” While the voter may ask for suggestions, “…I vote for the one I want, the one I am helping.” And finally, “They say ‘yes,’ I put [the ballot] in the envelope, and nobody knows but me, you.”

Jim Wells County keeps popping up in South Texas voting fraud lore.

The complaints filed by Jim Wells County residents have a familiar ring ... residents said they went to the voter polls on Election Day 2008, only to discover that they had already voted ... This is a scenario that has been seen before.

In 2006, Duval County officials said that nearly half of the ballots cast in that year’s primary — 2,800 out of 5,445 primary votes — were by mail-in ballot. A woman said that her deceased father’s name was among those that showed up on a mail-in ballot.

Of course, the most famous - or infamous - South Texas ballot fraud of all time took place in 1948 when Lyndon Johnson first ran for the U.S. Senate. It appeared that he had lost the primary, until all of a sudden Box 13 from Jim Wells County appeared out of nowhere. It contained 203 ballots, 202 of which were for LBJ ... in the same ink ... and the same handwriting ... and in alphabetical order. That resulted in a new nickname for him: Landslide Lyndon.

South Texas aside, the democrats have been carrying on similar shenanigans across the nation.

...four Democratic officials in Indiana were hit with felony charges related to petition fraud in the state's 2008 primary ... Without the phony signatures, there's a significant chance that Obama would not have qualified for the primary ballot -- throwing the validity of the entire election into question.

... a New York judge set new trial dates for Democratic officials and political operatives accused of another ballot fraud conspiracy...

... in Wisconsin, the state's Medical Examining Board decided last month to investigate 11 additional doctors for writing fake sick notes for public union teachers who ditched their classrooms to protest GOP Gov. Scott Walker. Nine other medical professionals have already received slaps on the wrist.

There's more, of course. One of the most notorious locations for old-style machine politics is Chicago, obama's home town. And one of the most notorious examples took plaice in 1982, resulting in "one of the largest voter fraud prosecutions ever conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice ... the U.S. Attorney in Chicago at the time, Daniel Webb, estimated that at least 100,000 fraudulent votes (10 percent of all votes in the city) had been cast. Sixty-five individuals were indicted for federal election crimes, and all but two (one found incompetent to stand trial and another who died) were convicted"

So the next time some head-in-the-sand liberal says there's no need for voter ID laws because there's no evidence of fraudulent voting, just refer him to South Texas ... and Indiana ... and New York ... and Chicago ... and the list goes on ... and on ... and on...