Guzman legally contests Edcouch mayor?s election
June 17,2005
Daniel Perry
The Monitor

Lawsuit claims more than 100 votes were not counted correctly

EDCOUCH ? The man who lost the mayor?s race by six votes last month is challenging the election result.

J.R. Calin Guzman, a retired self-employed business owner, filed legal paperwork earlier this week in the 139th state District Court in Edinburg asking for the ballots to be recounted and, if needed, the voiding of Mayor Ramiro Silva?s win and a new election. Guzman wants the court to oversee such an election.

Silva received 370 votes and Guzman had 364 votes during the May 7 election.

"I?m not a stubborn man who lost by six votes," Guzman said Thursday afternoon. "I actually think I won. I?m doing it for my supporters, and I think they deserve it."

Guzman said in the lawsuit that more than 100 votes were not counted correctly. He said people who did not live in the city were allowed to vote, some voters were disqualified from casting ballots, and one of two voting machines was not working properly. He said the machine in question was used by 212 people, but only 116 people recorded votes for the mayor?s race on the day of the election.

He also said city election workers committed fraud in doing their jobs.

"They knew it was a heated race between I and Silva," Guzman said.

Silva said he could not immediately talk when called on his cell phone mid-Thursday afternoon. He said he was at the funeral Mass in Elsa for two Edcouch-Elsa High School coaches who died earlier this week.

He did not return a message left on his cell phone at 8 p.m.

Guzman did not file a formal complaint with the city about the election. But, he talked to Teresa R. Navarro, Hidalgo County?s elections administrator, about what he said were voting and administrative irregularities. The county did not conduct the municipal election.

"They don?t seem to be doing anything about it," Guzman said. "We have to visit them again because they have to be aware of what I?m doing. They are going to be summoned."

Navarro said she studied paperwork from the election and could not find any problems.

"He seems to feel there was one machine that had a total number of votes than the total number of people that voted," she said. "That was incorrect ? it matched. I checked all of that already."

Navarro said Guzman?s formal complaint she received was referred to Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra?s office for review. She said Guerra could choose to either send the matter to a grand jury or not do anything with it.

The district attorney has not made a decision yet.

"To be honest with you, I don?t recall anything that would be actionable in Edcouch," Guerra said.