Heflin claims 'irrefutable evidence' of victory over Vo

06:33 PM CST on Monday, January 24, 2005

By Nancy Holland / 11 News

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HOUSTON -- Nearly three months after the election, state legislators in Austin will take up the question of who won a Houston House seat.

KHOU

Hubert Vo (left) and Talmadge Heflin

Republican Talmadge Heflin claims he now has "irrefutable evidence" that he should have won instead of Hubert Vo.

His claim of illegal votes is hardly fresh. It goes back to the November recount.

"Our 33 vote deficit has now become a five vote win," said Andy Taylor, Heflin's attorney.

Taylor says when a House committee begins looking at the disputed race on Thursday, it will agree some voters cast ballots illegally and the majority were for Vo.

"We have asked these individuals to swear -- under oath, under penalty of perjury -- just precisely whether or not they voted for the opponent of Representative Heflin," Taylor said.

But just when Heflin's lawyer says the evidence is irrefutable, along comes the lawyer for Hubert Vo.

"You go through all the testimony, when you add it up applying the law correctly, Hubert Vo's margin increases by three and he wins by 36," said Larry Veselka, Vo's attorney.

That is the tangle the House has to sort out.

It could dismiss the complaint, stick with Vo, decide to seat Heflin instead or decide the whole thing is such a mess there needs to be a new election.

The last time a new election was called in a contested House race was more than 20 years ago. In that race, the challenger lost by a big margin.

"I believe that our pursuit of the truth will bring the district together," said Heflin.

Maybe. But, it is not likely to bring Heflin and Vo together. The House committee could recommend what to do about them by next week.