How do you explain why shockingly only 4% of registered voters in Brownsville voted in the May 14 run-off election? There is more than one reason for such a pitiful showing by our city's voters but a substantial part of the blame has to be placed at the feet of our incredibly incompetent elections administrator, Roger Ortiz. If you recall in the November 2010 race for County Judge, Ortiz simply couldn't get the numbers right. First Carlos Cascos was the winner, then John Wood, then Cascos again. Ortiz didn't even have the common sense to match vote totals from one count to the other. He "lost" votes, then "found" votes.
When Ortiz' job came up for review. Cameron County officials Joe Rivera, Gilbert Hinojosa, Carlos Cascos, Frank Morris and Tony Yzaguirre failed us miserably by opting to retain the woefully inadequate administrator.
Cameron County desperately needs an election adminstrator with common sense, basic math skills, but also someone who will not allow intimidation by partisan leaders. We need someone who will take the lead in reducing the influence of paid politiqueras by carefully scrutinizing the signatures of write-in votes. Citizens deserve fair elections. Roger Ortiz has proven he cannot deliver them.
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