Topic: Write In Candidate

Candidates in Gonzales allegedly engaged in illegal door-to-door tactics by instructing voters to call them when mail-in ballots arrived. Reporter Nikki details how candidate Charles Roaches and Councilman Russell Grant pressured residents to sign ballots and offered to transport them, which is a violation of Texas election law. Some voters reported feeling harassed by the gentlemen returning multiple times in a single week to check on the status of their ballots.

In the May 2009 election, Councilman Russell Grant ran unopposed for his District 2 seat while simultaneously assisting Charles Roaches' write-in campaign for District 1. Despite Grant's claims that he never campaigned for Roaches, witnesses reported seeing the two men traveling together door-to-door to solicit votes. The investigation suggests Grant committed voter fraud specifically to benefit Roaches, who had missed the filing deadline to appear on the printed ballot.