‘Doping the vote’ in South Texas triggers federal indictments

Shady ballot brokers are “doping the vote” in the Rio Grande Valley, an election-watch group says. Now the FBI is on the case.

“(The politiqueras) took voters to their weed man after voting,” Logan Churchwell, a spokesman for True the Vote, told Watchdog.org.

Trafficking in petty cash and dime bags, politiqueras round up voters for South Texas candidates, nearly all Democrats. The pay-for-ballot activity has resulted in 11 federal indictments so far.

Republicans are turning up the heat on state Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, a Brownsville resident and longtime political kingmaker in the Rio Grande Valley.

“He needs to come clean with the people of Texas (about whether he) personally participated in the corrupt practice of using politiqueras to commit voter fraud,” said state GOP Chairman Tom Mechler.

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