District 28 races heads to court
4/1/2004 10:33 AM
By: James Lozada

There’s still not winner in the Congressional District 28 race. The district runs from Hays County to San Antonio.

The race pitted Henry Cuellar against incumbent Ciro Rodriguez.

The vote in the primary three weeks ago was so tight it required a series of recounts. And now, two counties have found votes that weren't tabulated election day.

More than 300 votes came from Zapata County. Voting machines there broke on Election Day and hand-counting lasted through the night.

Another 115 votes came from Webb county, where Henry Cuellar lives. Of those 115 votes, not one went for Ciro Rodriguez.

"What has occurred in Webb and Zapata County is just not logical, is not explainable and is extremely irregular to say the least,” Rodriguez said.

Recounts in other counties have gone much differently. The new count has only changed by a few votes from the original.

On Thursday morning, Cuellar observed Bexar County's recount, amid the latest controversy.

"All of our ballots were sequestered in one single place for the duration, so we should be fine,” said Bexar County Elections Administrator Cliff Borofsky.

Bexar County only had a small change in election results. It gave Cuellar three more votes.

Cuellar brushed aside any talk of voting fraud in the South Texas counties.

"Everything has been put on open tables, both campaigns have been there, so everything has been done in the open, so he was gracious when he was ahead and said let the recount start, and that's what we did,” Cuellar said.

But the Rodriguez camp is crying foul. It will file a lawsuit contesting the election results.

The lead attorney worked in the secretary of state's office for 33 years, running recount elections.

"Never, ever have I seen anything like what's happened in Zapata or Webb,” Rodriguez’s attorney, Buck Wood, said.

The lawsuit has left the election in turmoil and now in court. Experts say it will drag on.

"This election will go on for, I believe, several months, and it will ultimately, in that case, be decided by the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Larry Hufford, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University.

The courts will now have to decide who is put on the ballot for the November general election.

Comal and Guadalupe counties are holding recounts Thursday.