A Texas congressional candidate has boldly resurrected a popular East Coast Democratic catchphrase from the late 19th century: “Vote Early, Vote Often.”  Actually, it works just as well in today’s Chicago, the Rio Grande Valley, or any other area dominated by progressive political machines.

In a May 19 Facebook posting, Vicente Gonzales, a Democrat running in Texas’s 15th Congressional District, urged supporters to get to the polls for early voting the week before Tuesday’s Democratic primary run-off election.  One of his posts features a graphic red, white, and blue emblem with a large VOTE on the left and Early and Often stacked on the right.

The post elicited 43 “likes” and 13 shares, and this comment:

What is wrong with that statement? Vote early, vote often. Vote multiple times in the same election? Just sayin'.

And this: “Seriously?  The Republicans are having a field day with this post.”

Indeed, the post may have made Democrats giggle, but it also epitomized the donkey party’s cavalier attitude toward election integrity.  In any event, it certainly didn’t hurt Mr. Gonzales, who beat his opponent by a margin of 2 to 1.

Over the past few years, as Republicans enacted voter photo ID laws to prevent fraudulent voting, Democrats have claimed that vote fraud is a non-problem and accused the GOP of wanting to “suppress” minority, elderly, and young voters.  They imply that these people are incompetent to obtain identification that other citizens routinely use in driving, banking, boarding a plane, cashing checks, obtaining welfare benefits, voting, and myriad other activities.  Sounds racist to me.  Not to mention ageist.

The American Civil Rights Union, using Section 8 of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter), began winning lawsuits in Mississippi in 2013 to clean up inflated voter rolls and is now successfully suing Texas counties, including nearby Terrell and Zavala, for the same problem.  You know something’s wrong when registered voters outnumber people old enough to vote.

The 15th District, a border area in the Rio Grande Valley, has been represented by retiring Democrat Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, who has served 10 terms without a serious GOP challenge.  The district includes Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Brooks, Duval, Live Oak, Karnes, Wilson, and Guadalupe Counties.  But this year, Republican Tim Westley, an African-American pastor, is putting up a vigorous challenge for this congressional seat.

Voter turnout in the 15th District seems to depend on whether or not it’s a presidential election year.  In 2012, Mr. Hinojosa received 89,296 votes to his Republican opponent’s 54,056.  Two years later, he tallied only 48,708 votes, winning by a mere 9,892 votes.  No wonder Mr. Gonzales wants his voters to get out there early and often!

With another presidential election on tap in November, plus the well documented shady voter registration efforts by the Soros-funded Battleground Texas and Democratic “politiqueras” in the region, turnout is expected to return to the 2012 level or higher.

Of course, if people vote more than once, as Mr. Gonzales is apparently urging, the turnout will be through the roof.

Robert Knight is a Senior Fellow for the American Civil Rights Union.