It's bad enough that the City of Brownsville withheld permission for voters to cast their ballots at the city's two libraries during the early voting period in the Texas southmost College runoff between Dr. Tony Zavaleta and Evelyn Cantu.
The voters who traditionally cast their votes at the Central Library were urged to go to the New Horizons Medical Canter on 191 E. Price Road. Others were instructed to use any of the other seven sites that include the main courthouse offices on Harrison Street where the Cameron County Elections Office was formerly housed.
The voter suppression tactic worked at least once, as a frustrated reader wrote:
So I voted today at "The New Horizons Medical Clinic." First, have to find it, at the end of Price Rd., then go inside and nothing clearly marked where the early voting room is. Pass the rather busy medical reception desk, then look down the hall and find the early voting room. Needless to say, I was the only one in the room voting, about 3:00 PM!
WTF! Talk about voter turnout suppression! Tony Martinez should be proud of his efforts for circumventing the right to vote. This is bad by even Third World standards!
As if that wasn't enough of an obstacle, residents – including the handicapped who need voter assistance – who arrived at the courthouse this morning were met with cars taking up the early voting parking spaces belonging to police officers or investigators doing business with the Cameron County District Attorney's Office.
Although the early voting parking was clearly marked – including the handicapped sign where they could get curbside assistance – our fine officers and law enforcement fellows decided they wouldn't go throught the inconveninece of walking from a parking spot that was further from the door.
The election precinct judge said she had brought matter to the attention of Luis V. Saenz, the man upstairs, but with no avail. She then suggested that a voter call Cameron County Elections Administrator Remi Garza to see if the cops and Saenz would heed his call.
Garza said he would call Saenz and bring the matter to his attention.
A persistent voter parked in the red prohibited area across the street in front of the law offices of Alex Dominguez, the Pct. 2 county commissioner.
"If I get a ticket for parking in a red zone I'm going to take it upstairs to Luis so he can pay it," said an irate voter. "If he was running in this runoff, I bet he wouldn't stand for this."
What the voter said made sense.
After the candidates in the election have spent their time and money to elicit votes from their fellow citizens, circumstance like this stymie their efforts to cast their votes. Another thing to think about is that the DA is in charge of prosecuting voter fraud and other Eelction Code violations that deter or suppress the voting rights of the people. By not allowing a handicapped person to get assistance because the gents don't want the inconvenience of walkking a block or two to do their business, it indicates a certain arrogance and callousness we don't expec to find in law enforcement personnel charged with upholding the law.
It's anyone's guess how many would-be voters couldn't park and vote and decided against going through the inconvenience and gave up voting today.
2 comments:
I wasn't aware elections were not going to be in the library and Im just not going to bother with all the hassel tbh.
So I voted today at "The New Horizons Medical Clinic." First, have to find it, at the end of Price Rd., then go inside
and nothing clearly marked where the early voting room is. Pass the rather busy medical reception desk, then look down the hall and find the early voting room. Needless to say, I was the only one in the room voting, about 3:00 PM!
WTF! Talk about voter turnout suppression! Tony Martinez should be proud of his efforts for circumventing the right to vote. This is bad by even Third World standards!
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