Looks like there was massive vote fraud down in McAllen, Texas during a recent mayoral election -- with over 90% of the mail-in ballots cast having been done so fraudulently.

They charm their way into the homes of elderly Hispanics and other vulnerable souls along the Texas-Mexico border. They help them with ordinary tasks, picking up their groceries or taking them to the doctor.

Then suddenly, these intruders steal a cherished thing from their victims: Their vote.

The indictment Wednesday of nine people in an alleged voter fraud scheme in McAllen opened a window into the hidden world of politiqueras, the paid political activists whose controversial ways are under scrutiny in South Texas.

Hidalgo County authorities allege that politiqueras bought and sold votes before the May 7 mayoral race in McAllen. The indictment charges nine people with electoral violations. They include Elvira Rios and her sister, Alicia Liscano Molina, two politiqueras known for their activism in the Rio Grande Valley.

"Our investigation revealed these politiqueras were preying on elderly voters," said Texas Ranger Israel Pacheco, who headed the inquiry.

After befriending their victims, the political activists allegedly took their mail-in ballots and made sure that the names of the activists' favorite candidates were checked off before sending them in, authorities say.

"They would go to them under the pretext of assisting them in voting. But the investigation showed none of them (the victims) knew who they voted for; the politiqueras took off with the ballots," Pacheco said.

"Unfortunately, the politiqueras crossed over the line," said Nedra Kinerk, president of Futuro McAllen, a citizens group that examined 902 of the 961 mail-in ballots in the May 7 election. "From what I saw of the mail-in ballots, they were full of illegal assistance."

About 40 percent of the applications for mail-in ballots were received at City Hall on the same day, indicating they likely were mailed in batches, Kinerk said.

"We even had three dead people apply for ballots, and sign their names. And we had applications for one voter from three different politiqueras," she said.

Almost all the political workers who allegedly took part in the scheme were Hispanic women who gained the trust of their victims by helping them with such tasks as making doctor's appointments or applying for government benefits, officials said.

Now the interesting thing is that nopolitical parties are mentioned anywhere in the article on this massive vote fraud. Now I realize that most municipal elections in Texas are non-partisan, but those invlved are usually closely affiliated with one of the major parties and are generally identified as auch in news stories. That the Chronicle fails to do so here leads me to draw a conclusion as to the party of those involved. -- and given voting patterns in the Valley, they would not be Republicans.

Posted by: Greg at 01:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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