Tuesday, June 09, 2009

In Harris County Voter Fraud Takes On a New Meaning

Perhaps it is appropriate that the assistant director of voter registration for Harris County, one Ed Johnson, testified twice this past legislative session at hearings on the infamous and now dead Voter ID bill. The bill that its Republican touts claimed would eliminate rampant voter fraud in Texas.

Appropriate in that as it has been revealed b y The Lone Star Project and aired at KHOU, Ed Johnson is something of an expert in voter fraud.

You could say that Ed Johnson is the King of Fraud, vis-à-vis things that have to do with voting.

Because in his role as assistant director of voter registration, Johnson is responsible for purging voters from voter rolls, and is the guy who not only opens sealed provisional ballots but is principally responsible for counting them. Or not counting them.

But Johnson has another job. A job that he does not openly advertise. As it turns out, Johnson is a paid political hack of the right wing of the Republican Party. You know, the people who pushed the Voter ID bill in the last legislative session, to the detriment of several other bills that would have had a more meaningful positive impact on the lives of Texans.

In addition to his day job at the Harris County offices, Johnson works for a company called Campaign Data Systems or CDS. The company is owned by State Rep Dwayne Bohac, but its website lists Ed Johnson as the principal technical contact person [but don't bother clicking on the hyperlink - since the original posting of this piece State Rep. Dwayne Bohac has taken down his company's website].

Now it’s OK, in my opinion, to have two jobs. It may even be OK to have a job that is inter-related with your other job, although in this case, the ethics of it is a little questionable. But what is not OK is to have that situation and not disclose it to anyone.

Not disclose it to say, the voting public. Not disclose it to say, the Senate committee on Elections, the body that invited Johnson to testify before it on the Voter ID bill. Twice.

And that is not just “not OK,” it’s odious. It is yet another confirmation of my suspicion that Republicans will preferentially lie, cheat and steal their way into office rather than run an honest campaign.

And of this I am certain. As long as Ed Johnson continues to be employed by Harris County, voters should doubt that their votes are being honestly counted.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought you didn't believe voter fraud existed Half? Oh, yes, I forgot you are a partisan hack too, so it only exists in one party. Why don't you become a real person again and recognize that both major parties are very much engaged in the fight for the spoils and reject the dominant paradigm? It's time for all people to unite and retake the government and force it to serve the people once again and not the other way around.

Hal said...

You will not get an argument out of me that I am not a partisan hack. I was made to be so by Newt Gingrich and others of his ilk.

Where I and Ed Johnson split on is the whole idea of being in charge of voter registration and counting ballots AND being a partisan hack. I would never consider doing that.

A partisan person is by your definition not a "real person?" Just who is the "real" partisan one, Anon?

Anonymous said...

Seems to me he's part of the tinfoil hat partisan, also known as the Libertarian Party.

Anonymous said...

"A partisan person is by your definition not a "real person?" Just who is the "real" partisan one, Anon?"

Actually Anon your attempt to label is labile as well as incorrect and hal you missed the point entirely. Until the partisan football game ends only the MUD will remain thrown by people like you from both sides regardless of whether it is grounded in any truth and the special interests will win by continuing to play people off on diversion issues as always.

Sorry if the TRUTH hurts hack.