After this general election in November, Democrats will no longer count of the notorious "la palanca" vote that allowed them to control most of South Texas in the Democratic party mode.
This summer, after the legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that will eliminate the straight-ticket voting option starting in 2020. Straight-ticket voting, the option for voters to check one box to cast a ballot for every candidate from a single political party, is not available in most states, but it accounted for nearly 64 percent of total votes cast in Texas' 10 largest counties in the 2016 general election.
House Bill 25 removes the straight-ticket option from Texas ballots after September 2020.
Cameron County elections Administrator Remi Garza said that the November 2020 general election will no longer have ballots with straight ticket ovals. That means that voters will have to vote on each position and for each candidate instead of casting their vote for all the candidates of a certain party.
"It is my understanding that after 2019 that will be eliminated," Garza said. "Since we don't have a presidential election, maybe constitutional amendments where that doesn't matter, it will go onto effect in the 2020 presidential election."
La palanca refers the levers of now-antique voting contraptions which were used as late as 1990s in Cameron County. A voter could simply switch the lever of the party he or she wanted – in South Texas, mostly Democrats – and do without voting for specific candidates.
Many Democratic candidates benefited from "La Palanca" votes and the party advocated that a voter "Jale la palanca" when voting. In fact, a longtime county resident who worked in the Cameron County warehouse where the machines were stored remembered that the late Ray Ramon even bought some machines to train his supporters how to vote.
"Ray had them in his house and brought over his war heelers to show then so they could show their voters how to pull the palanca," said the former employee, now retired. "And many of the party's political signs advocated pulling the palanca instead of pushing for specific candidates."
Cameron County was one of the few South Texas counties where voters shunned the practice by electing Tony Garza, the first county judge since Reconstruction, as county judge in 1988. Garza was relected despite efforts by local Democrats to push for the straight-party vote.
That independent streak has been evident since, with voters putting Republican (and former Democrat) Carlos Cascos in office three times.
Gilberto Hinojosa, the former chairman of Cameron County Democratic Party and now chairman of the state party, defended the practice way back in 2002 when he told a reporter:
"And the reason that we are pushing the straight ticket vote this year more than any is that every single candidate on the Democratic Party ticket is much more qualified than any on the Republican ticket," Hinojosa said.
"Jesus Christ, how can you compare (Republican) Humberto Zamora to (Democrat) Jim Solis?" said Hinojosa, referring to then-candidate from Harlingen for State representative District 38 race. "You have (Republican candidates) just somewhere out there in outer space to say the least," Hinojosa added. " It is easy for us to push a straight ticket."
Aside from the judicial races for courts of appeal or statewide candidacies, there are no Republican candidates in contested races locally save for the seat on the Texas State Board of Education currently held by Ruben Cortez, a former board member of the Brownsville Independent School District. He is facing Mathis native Dr. Michelle Arevalo Davila as a Democratic candidate for the Texas Board of Education, District 2.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will face either Tad Hasse or Erik Garza on the Republican side. Cortez or Davila (or even the Republican primary winner) might end up being the last beneficiaries of the infamous palanca vote.
17 comments:
Republicans telling you what to do. No tienen vergas esos babosos!
Finally it was about time besides one should vote for the person not for a party
"Y prende la vela!"
Brownsville doesn't just accept political corruption, it's citizens demand corruption and vote the palanca to insure corruption. How many Democrats are in jail now???? All politicians in jail from Cameron County (and possibly other RGV counties) are Democrats who won by the palanca. The palanca is the way ignorant people vote....loyalty to a party is easier than thinking. Not until we have an effective two or three party system in South Texas will we be able to free ourselves from the corruption of Gilberto Hinojosa's Palanca Party.
I vote for the party not racist republicans.
Exactly Anonymous January 5, 2018
@ 12:12 pm
I've been a registered voter since 1980 and have never voted
"palanca".
Vote for the person, their political history, their actions.
Interesting, vote for a racist republican or a corrupt democrat. Racism is unacceptable, but you dont go to prison for being a racist. On the other hand, corruption is a crime.
Racist if you vote republican, let's take a look at that one. Find me a gringo elected official in Cameron county.
How many republicans are in jail or going to jail for molesting children and women? Pendejo.
and what the party stands for! republicans are racist and love only the rich poor hillbillies they vote republicans THINKING they are rich but in reality republicans don't like them at all. Pendejos
It is beyond silly for anybody to claim that one party has virtue and the other has not. There is little if any daylight between them on moral issues for they are all human beings of the political stripe. It is all about power and control and zero about racism or any other moral virtue or sin.
This asserted party virtue or lack therefore is just a form of brain washing, to get folks to "jale la palanca." Getting rid of the palanca will have some very bad consequences down here, as it might force people to think about the candidate and not the party. As is, it's far to easy to against those terrible racist rich white republicans or to vote against those liberal big government, Marxist, globalist welfare Democrats. It will be a very long learning curve to get local Browntown citizens to actually think before voting.
Harlingen the white city, South Padre Island the second white city all catering to the elite, BISD trustee catering to the rich and the chisquis commissioner also catering to the elite all soon to go. All underground republicans. And of course the cocos and wanna bees.
You saw the presidential election and you heard all the yelling all by republicans. You heard the remarks and the promise made. Even the texas stupid governor got in the act. Talk about virtue. Yes dream on. Looking for the right candidate you first have to look at both parties. Then and only then you look for a good candidate. The party decides what the candidate will stand for. No fooling people anymore.
You know and I know that the candidate will represent what the PARTY stands for, not the other way around. republican will do anything and say anything but can not get away for what they stand for. Against the ethnics and the poor and middle class. No brain washing here just the plain truth. You all saw it on TV.
The Republicans embraced the straight ticket all over the state for years with only a few from the valley speaking out against it recently. Now both parties want it gone. You all are puppets.
Finally, Republicans racists, hahaha. De Leon is a republican? Look at your party and then vomit stupidities.
Gilberto Hinojosa is the official seal of corruption in the state of Texas
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