Now here’s an actual voter-fraud case being prosecuted by the office of Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez. The trial of a man who’s accused of “fraudulently registering as a candidate for Sunland Park municipal judge and fraudulently voting” starts today, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.
Horacio Favela, 49 and a Democrat, is accused of falsely declaring himself a resident of Sunland Park so he could vote and run for judge there while he was living in El Paso.
He allegedly voted in El Paso County in Texas and in Doña Ana County in 2004. In Doña Ana County, Favela voted using an address for a small trailer located next to a tortilla business in which he is a partner.
From the Sun-News:
“Favela was indicted on two counts of falsely swearing in a municipal election, three counts of falsifying election documents in a municipal election. Also, he faces one count of false voting for not being a qualified elector or, alternatively, one count of false voting more than once in the same election. Each of the charges is a fourth-degree felony.
“If convicted, he could be sentenced for each count up to a maximum of 18 months in prison and possibly up to a $5,000 fine.”
Favela has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is scheduled to last three days.
The situation came to light after Favela was elected a municipal judge in Sunland Park in early 2008. He was suspended by the state’s Supreme Court without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case, but he later agreed to resign and never seek a judgeship in New Mexico again.
In case you’re wondering about the first sentence in this posting, I recently raised questions about whether Martinez, a GOP candidate for governor, was correctly labeling as “voter fraud” a separate case her office prosecuted in 2003 against a former Doña Ana County clerk.