By Lee Ann O’Neal | Texas Watchdog
GARZA-TORRES: Her election to the school board was marred by an Elections Department error.
HOUSTON — An elections error in South Texas may have cost the election, and it has surely dented public trust.
The Elections Department in Hidalgo County, nestled along the Rio Grande border with Mexico, allowed 61 voters not residing in the Hidalgo school district to help elect a new board member there, the Monitor reports.
The race in the Hidalgo Independent School District was decided last week with Norma Garza-Torres leading Mentor Cantu, 1,013 to 976. Discounting the faulty votes, Cantu would have won, 968 to 960 — a whisper of a victory in a region not known for squeaky clean elections.
The questionable win by Norma Garza-Torres boosted a reform movement that has pledged to rid school hiring decisions of politics.
Contact Lee Ann O’Neal at leeann@texaswatchdog.org or 713-980-9777.
