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Canseco Alleges Voter Fraud in CD-23

By: Becca Aaronson, The Texas Tribune
Updated: November 7, 2012
In the aftermath of a close and costly campaign for Congressional District 23, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco has alleged voter fraud and is not conceding to his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Pete Gallego. Gallego finished 9,222 votes ahead of Canseco early Wednesday morning.

"The race is not over, and it won't be until all votes are properly and legally counted," Canseco said in a statement the morning after the election.

Gallego campaign spokeswoman Rebecca Acuna said there is "no way" voter fraud occurred.

"This just shows a lot about [Canseco's] character, because he chose to go this route" rather than concede and congratulate Gallego, she said.

Canseco's campaign alleges that officials in Maverick County double- or triple-counted some of the early vote sheets. A complaint to the Secretary of State indicates that Canseco's campaign found a minimum of 57 duplicate votes when reviewing a list provided by the Maverick County Elections Office. The campaign also alleges that another county used photocopied ballots, a criminal offense, and that an extended delay in counting votes from other counties left "other questions unanswered."

"There are too many disturbing incidents to declare this race over," Scott Yeldell, Canseco's campaign manager, said in a statement. "During the next several days we will be looking into these reports to assure only legal votes have been counted in this election."

But Acuna said even if all the votes from Maverick County -- where Gallego received 6,291 more votes than Canseco -- were excluded, Gallego still would have come out ahead. "His argument -- it's not at all valid," she said. "We won this race; it's simple math."

The Texas Secretary of State's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Editor's note: This story originally stated Gallego came out 13,000 votes ahead of Canseco, but he came out 9,222 votes ahead.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-congressional-election/canseco-alleges-voter-fraud-cd-23/.

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