Bueno said she began her politiquera work at the behest of a neighbor, Elida Garza, who suggested it as a way to pick up extra pocket money. Garza was running for the school board of the Alice Independent School District.

“And she said, ‘Zaida, I want you to help me,' " Bueno said. “I had never done this in my life. She told me how to do the whole ballot, and she told me what to do. She gave me a list of names, and that’s how I followed it. I did it forever.”

The extra cash came in handy for Bueno, a former home caregiver.

“I raised my kids with half of the election."

A reporter called a phone number for Garza over several days, but no one answered.

Bueno said she worked in 2008 for three local candidates – Lupe Martinez, who was running for Justice of the Peace, Tavo Figueroa Jr., who was seeking the tax collector spot and Barrera, the DA candidate. That year's primary vote-harvesting is what brought Bueno to the attention of state prosecutors.

Bueno is listed on Barrera’s campaign finance reports as a canvasser and employee, earning $1,375 from January through March.

Barrera, the Jim Wells DA, acknowledged that he had hired some people to work for him dealing with the mail-in ballots.

“I don’t know how many we hired, but I explained the rules to them,” Barrera said. “I told them they could not be picking up ballots. Whether they followed the rules, I don’t know.”

The campaign finance reports of the other candidates Bueno says she assisted have gone missing from the Jim Wells County Clerk’s office. The office has no explanation. No investigation of the candidates who used politiqueras is ongoing, according to the AG's office.

***

Bueno vacillates as she describes her endeavor. On one hand, she tacitly acknowledges her willingness to coach the vote and collect mail-in ballots. On the other hand, Bueno claims that she had no idea what she was doing was a punishable offense. 

Bueno said her downfall came two years ago through a flaw in her strategy.

She liked to have at least 10 ballots collected before returning to the candidate’s office for stamps.

“I can’t be going to his house, back and forth, back and forth for five or six ballots,” Bueno said. “So I at least collect up to 10 ballots. I go and put them in my bag. ... I have a bag I want to make sure nobody sees."

There is a coveted list of potential voters who can use mail-in ballots. Experienced politiqueros maintain the list and direct a team of assistants.

In the attorney general’s complaint against Bueno, investigators allege that she committed four misdemeanors. Each ballot triggers an individual charge, and Bueno allegedly appropriated four ballots from four voters.

One of those voters was Jesusa Arellano. She told Texas Watchdog that Bueno was part of a team sweeping her single-story apartment complex in early 2008.

Bueno said she saw Arellano's name on the court complaint, but has no memory of her, only the apartment complex which she had worked before.

Arellano, 64, who lives with her husband, had seen Bueno around Alice before but never knew her name.

“I trust her to come because I thought she was helping, you know, all of the people here, the elderly,” Arellano said. “So they came over here and filled out the application.”

Arellano's application completed, she proceeded to mail her ballot. But Bueno stopped her, saying, “I’ll mail it, you don’t have to worry," Arellano said. Bueno also told her not to worry about a stamp, and signed the application.

A couple weeks later, after Arellano received her ballot, Bueno returned.

“So I didn’t know much about who to vote for, and she said, ‘Well, I’ll put the one I think is best.’ So that’s what she did,” Arellano said.

Several months later, an agent from the state AG’s office, Jose Gardea, came by with a picture of Bueno.

He showed it to Arellano, who identified her and told him of her voting experience.

“I didn’t know how serious these things are," she said.

Contact Steve Miller at 832-303-9420 or stevemiller@texaswatchdog.org. Photo of a "vote" sign by flickr user hjl, used via a Creative Commons license.

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