MAIL-INS NEGLIGIBLE IN DISTRICTS 3,4, NOT AT LARGE

By Juan Montoya
If you are an enemy of vote harvesting, this year's city election may give you some encouragement.
A count of the mail-in votes that have been received as of Friday, indicates that 360 votes had been received countywide, with another four cast by military personnel stationed out of the county.

Still to be counted are the mail-in ballots that the mail will deliver today until 4 p.m.

Of those 360, about 263 were requested for the City of Brownsville elections. And judging by the preliminary count done by the Cameron County Elections Office, except for the At Large "B" position, they will have a negligible effect on the total votes for the candidates.

The preliminary count this morning indicates that 49 mail-in votes had been received in the District 4 race between John Villarreal and Ben Neece.

And in the District 3 race between William Garza and Joel Munguia, the total number was 41.

Remember, however, that District 3 and 4 voters also had a choice for At-Large "B", so the greatest effect of the mail-in vote could affect that race more than the individual districts.

"The turnout has been low, but it looks like the mail-in harvesters kept at an arms length in this election and that is a good thing," said a longtime anti-voter abuse activist. "The day may have come when we actually have an honest election. It's been a long seven years."

The foci of voter abuse through the mail-in vote may have shifted to San Benito, where some precincts stood out for the number of mail-ins received. While many Brownsville precincts received under 10 mail-in votes, some precincts in San Benito (Precincts 40 and 50) received 20 each, although there were two elections involved.