July 11, 2021

"A 62-year-old Texas man who waited hours to cast a ballot in last year’s presidential primary was arrested this week on charges that he had voted illegally."

"The man, Hervis Earl Rogers of Houston, waited seven hours outside Texas Southern University to vote in the state’s presidential primary in March 2020. On Wednesday, he was arrested and charged with two counts of illegal voting, a felony. According to court documents, the charges stem from ballots that Mr. Rogers cast on March 3, 2020, and on Nov. 6, 2018, while he was still on parole and not legally permitted to vote.... Mr. Rogers’s story ricocheted around social media after he was identified as the very last person in line to vote at his polling place. Houston Public Media reported at the time that Mr. Rogers arrived at the polls just before 7 p.m. and waited roughly six hours to vote, long after the polls had closed and many others had left the line. 'It is insane, but it’s worth it,' Mr. Rogers told Houston Public Media while waiting in line."

From "Texas Man Who Waited Hours to Vote Is Arrested on Charges of Illegal Voting/Hervis Rogers was ineligible to cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential primary because he was still on parole, according to the state’s attorney general. He now faces four decades in prison" (NYT).

A link on "ricocheted around social media" goes here:

7 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

Temujin writes:

"This is a crazy story. Not just that this man may be facing multiple years in jail, but that this is the one story on voting irregularities that the New York Times will print. Details on the swarms of irregularities that took place that night in November are not allowed into mainstream print. Details on the audit going on in Arizona, or the new investigations going on in Georgia will not be detailed there. I suspect Mr. Rogers will become the new face of voter suppression, and Stacey Abrams will have a new prop for her Gubernatorial campaign.

"Mr. Rogers will become a regular feature on Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid for about a week. In the end he will either (a) not have to serve any time and charges dropped, or (b) become the Mr. Rogers for a new era, a new generation, molding the minds of the young, just as another Mr. Rogers did in an earlier time. Who makes a nice cardigan in XXL?"

Ann Althouse said...

It should be that when he tried to vote, he'd be stopped. How was his name on the roll? We shouldn't leave it to the voters to understand the rules. There should be a system that prevents people who aren't allowed to vote from voting.

I wish there was more stress on the fact that every person who votes when they shouldn't is CANCELLING the vote of some other person who was entitled to vote and who voted for the other candidate.

Ann Althouse said...

Lyle writes:

"This story perplexes me as a Houstonian and Houston voter. Like this gentleman I too live in a Democrat voting district. Sheila Jackson Lee is my representative in Congress. I vote in the gymnasium of a black church and never have to wait to vote. They have voting polls scattered all over Houston on voting day. I've never heard of anyone waiting 7 hours to vote before in Houston. I find it hard to believe this man waited 7 hours to vote at any Houston polling station.

"Sucks he couldn't vote since he was literally a free man. He shouldn't be arrested for going to vote even if he wasn't eligible by law. Strike his vote and maybe give him a fine at best."

I'll say this:

Maybe there is a layer of fakery to this story. I will watch out for that.

But I wouldn't call him "literally a free man" when he was on parole. He's considered in "custody" within the meaning of the statutory law on habeas corpus.

Ann Althouse said...

MJB Wolf writes:

"I agree with Temujin that it would be nice if the Times had as much interest in the thousands of shady voters and felonious acts surrounding the 2020 election as they show for this one guy. We know now that 35,000 illegal votes were more than the margin of fraud needed in GA but hey one friendly old minority voter in TX has a story that just must be told!"

Ann Althouse said...

MJB Wolf writes:

"Althouse wrote, “It should be that when he tried to vote, he'd be stopped.”

"Yes this is called purging the rolls, another routine maintenance step evil progressives have weaponized and claim disenfranchises minority voters. Being cruel and exposing him to reincarceration is their way of showing compassion respect."

Ann Althouse said...

Patrick writes:

"Can't get past the paywall but no mention of whether this happened on Election Day? My guess would be no. Early voting is merely a vehicle for Dems and media to fulfill their role play fantasies about voter suppression. I bet the man could have been in and out within 7 minutes on Election Day."

Ann Althouse said...

The NYT links to this article: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2020/2020/03/04/362610/its-worth-it-the-last-person-in-line-at-tsu-waited-six-hours-to-vote-on-super-tuesday/

Based on that, I'd say he voted on Super Tuesday (the day of the primary).