With all the talk about elections and voting fraud, I was reminded of the massive voting frauds perpetrated in Texas. No, I am not referring in this case to the LBJ election and the mysterious votes in Duval County, which certainly was one of the cases of fraud. In the 20th century, LBJ was involved in two of the most significant cases of voter fraud in Texas. The other, more extreme cases of voter fraud had patterns to them as well.
It is very odd how the two elections concerning whether Texas should join the Union. In the 1844 vote on Statehood, Union troop ’supervised’ the election. Voting under the watchful eye of an armed military is not a free election in my book. Were General David Twiggs and his thousands of troops here for a vacation? No, they were here to make the vote go the way the pro-annexation forces wanted it to go. By any definition, it was not a free election, which raises question about whether or not it was the ‘will’ of the sovereign citizens of the Republic of Texas.
The next vote regarding joining the Union was conducted with a large number of the citizens considered ‘unqualified’ to vote. By forbidding the former Confederates the right to vote, the US CONgress violated the Constitution it was sworn to protect in that the passage of the 14th amendment violated the restriction against ex post facto laws (meaning ‘after the fact’). The CONgress was not allowed to say something was illegal after the event occurred. That didn’t stop them from doing it though. They removed the voting rights (and civil rights) of the men who had served in the war. Nowadays if something like that occurred, the results would be considered invalid due to the extreme violation of civil rights involved.
When you know history, you see modern events in a different light.
Free Texas!
J Murrah
14th amendment, annexation, civil rights, civil rights violations, Constitution, Culture, David Twiggs, duvall county, ex post facto laws, history of voter fraud, LBJ, Political Well Being, right to vote, Texas history, US Congress, voter fraud
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