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Dan Neil vs. Donna Howard: Voters ID'd in District 48 [Politics]
Neil has good reason to exhaust all legal remedies. The November elections saw him lose by a margin of 16 votes. His subsequent challenge brought the gap down to 12. Now he's trying to narrow those down even further in a public hearing before Rep. Will Hartnettt (R-Dallas), whom Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) has appointed as "master of discovery."
The Texas Election Code does not allow persons to cast votes for a contest in a district that they have moved out of before Election Day. Such votes are invalid, and because of this voters can be compelled to disclose in court how they voted. Most of the witnesses who testified on Wednesday had been subpoenaed by Nixon in an attempt to whittle away at the 35 votes that Hartnett has allowed him to dispute. Voters were nonplused when asked to reveal what in this country is a notoriously private matter. Said one, "It's an issue because it's a private issue... It's nobody's business." Another witness took the questions in stride: "It really doesn't matter... Everyone knows I'm a Democrat."
The Election Code also gives Hartnett the authority to determine whether Neil's petition is frivolous. The master of discovery has already ruled that 222 overseas ballots, previously contested by Nixon, are legitimate. The "recount of the recount on Thursday" showed that none of the 265 mail-in ballots had been counted by the County Clerk's office in December. Nixon had hoped to peel off four more votes for Howard; Neil told the paper he wasn't disappointed and was glad to get "to the bottom of it."
More ballots will be counted today with closing arguments on Monday. Following that a special House committee will deliberate and if necessary send the matter to full chamber. Howard's lead is now believed to be in the single digits.
