POLITICS ~ UP CLOSE & PERSONAL!!!

Vote fraud training called legit???

Web Posted: 03/17/2006 12:00 AM CST

Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer

The Texas attorney general's office this week defended examples given in materials used to train law officers to watch for voter fraud, saying viewers must look at them in the proper context.

Critics took issue this week with two examples in a PowerPoint presentation used by the attorney general's office to train law officers to recognize election fraud.

The critics argued the examples give poll monitors huge discretion that could result in voters inappropriately being turned away.

One example pictured apparel with logos of the Dallas Cowboys as a possible violation of a section of the state election code that bars in polling places badges, insignias and emblems that relate to any candidate, measure or political party on the ballot.

The other example gives law officers tips on what to look for when examining documents for fraud, including "unique stamps" on mail-in ballots.

 Appearing next to those words is a postage stamp of a black woman kissing a black child. The stamp promotes testing for sickle cell disease. The racial undertones of that example riled some critics.

Tom Kelley, spokesman for the attorney general's office, offered an explanation: "Our efforts in education are intended solely for law enforcement, not the general public.

The example of the Dallas Cowboys shirt is a specific example of a real-life example involving a referendum for a new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas. The example of the sickle cell stamp is a piece of evidence a grand jury relied on to issue an indictment in Bowie County.

"Unfortunately, there have been numerous instances of voter fraud in the state of Texas. These instances have led to nearly a dozen indictments across the state," Kelley said.

The state's stance, however, did little to appease critics like Common Cause Texas and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, groups that say the approach will intimidate voters and result in lower turnout.

One political analyst said the state's approach profiles minorities and assumes they go to the polls to cheat.

"If you start with the assumption that people go to church to steal from the offering plate, you'd make people very uncomfortable," said Andy Hernandez, a political scientist at St. Mary's University. "After a while, they're going to stop going to your church."

The training was offered to 44 counties where voter fraud had occurred, or where the population is at least 100,000. The training took place before early voting began in the March primary.

The crackdown on voter fraud was backed by cases that resulted in indictments and by an editorial Feb. 6 in the San Antonio Express-News, according to the attorney general's office.

The training was offered to law enforcement agencies in Bexar County, but was not used here.

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