Resignations Of Houston Judges Highlight Problems With State’s Election Law
September 11, 2008 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
A few excerpts from a recent Houston Chronicle story about the timing of judicial resignations:
Fowler said Tuesday that she contemplated leaving the appellate bench in the spring but changed her mind after word got out. She said she was informed by other Republicans that if she stayed until after Aug. 22, the governor could appoint her successor.
[...]
She said she stayed through the summer to get opinions written without leaving fellow jurists in the lurch. Fowler said that work took her right up until the deadline, so she wrote the governor Aug. 25 and made her resignation effective Aug. 28. She said she let the deadline pass in part to make sure her successor wasn’t stuck with only two months to campaign.
Bernal said he knew he was leaving for Apache Corp. in August and postponed his resignation three days until Aug. 25 largely because he thought it better to have a successor appointed by the governor that the voters could later approve or disapprove in 2010.
“We’re probably better served by someone vetted by the governor than someone just on the ballot,” Bernal said.
In theory, the jurists in discussed above did nothing wrong. They didn’t break the law. But, they did exploit the law.
When any law can be exploited to this extent, there is a serious flaw in the law.
Texas Democratic Party Sues Secretary Of State Over Electronic Voting Machines
February 13, 2007 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
The Texas Democratic Party has sued Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams in federal court alleging that his office has failed to require that electronic voting machines properly record and total votes, especially straight-ticket votes.
In its complaint, the party specifically addresses the eSlate voting machine, manufactured by Hart InterCivic. The party alleges:
Reyes-Martinez Could Get Back On Ballot In Valley’s ‘Family Feud Primary’
January 31, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
Hidalgo County’s Democratic Chairman says Jessica Reyes-Martinez may be able to get back on the ballot in Texas House District 39 following Friday’s decision by the Texas Supreme Court to allow two Court of Criminal Appeals candidates additional time to fix errors within their ballot applications.
HCDC Chairman Juan Maldonado, who ruled Reyes-Martinez (the estranged wife current HD 39 State Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez) was not eligible to be a candidate because she did not put her complete address on her ballot application, told the McAllen Monitor she may now be eligible to be back on the ballot.
CCA Candidates Given Time To Correct Petition Errors By SCOTX
January 27, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · 2 Comments
In a 5-3 ruling Friday (with Justice Don Willet recusing himself), the Texas Supreme Court gave incumbent Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Charles Holcomb and Dallas District Judge Robert Francis additional time to fix problems with their candidacy petitions after finding the Republican Party of Texas erred when it examined and approved the Francis and Holcomb petitions. According to the Court’s majority opinion by Justice Scott Brister, had the mistakes been pointed out by the party in time, both candidates could have easily corrected the problems.
Francis had failed to list that he was seeking “Place 8″ on 11 petition forms, while Holcomb’s petitions contained duplicate signatures. The problems had left both short of the 50 signatures needed in each of the state’s 14 appellate court districts.
