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No. 04-08-00561-CV

Rick FLORES,
Appellant

v.

Martin CUELLAR,
Appellee

From the 406th Judicial District Court, Webb County
Trial Court No. 2008-CVQ-775-D4
Honorable David Peeples, Judge Presiding (1)

Opinion by:	Karen Angelini, Justice

Sitting:	Karen Angelini, Justice
		Rebecca Simmons, Justice
		Steven C. Hilbig, Justice

Delivered and Filed:	August 27, 2008

AFFIRMED
	Rick Flores, the current Webb County Sheriff, appeals from a final judgment against him
in an election contest. See Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 232.014 (Vernon 2003). We affirm.Factual and Procedural Background
	On April 8, 2008, a primary run-off election was held to select the Democratic nominee for
the office of Webb County Sheriff. Flores, the incumbent, was opposed by appellee Martin Cuellar.
In an election night vote count conducted by county election officials, Cuellar won the election by
a margin of 37 votes. In a subsequent recount conducted by the Democratic party, Flores won the
election by a margin ofthe electronic voting devices had a discrepancy between
the number of votes recorded on their PEBs and their flash cards. The discrepancy, or "mismatch"
as it was termed, occurred in precincts 231 and 255. The remaining 57 precincts showed no
mismatch between their PEBs and their flash cards.
	Flores offered the testimony of Dr. Giovanni Vigna, a computer scientist. Although Dr. Vigna
had never examined the electronic voting devices used in Webb County and was uncertain as to
whether the electronic voting devices were the same as ones he had studied, Dr. Vigna concluded
the mismatch in the PEBs and the flash cards revealed an inherent unreliability in the entire
electronic vote count for this election. Dr. Vigna did not confine his opinion to the electronic voting
devices in precincts 231 and 255, but extended his opinion