White House error means Bush will vote in Crawford
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:24 pm
By TODD J. GILLMAN and G. ROBERT HILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
President Bush added a side trip to his Texas ranch to vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary after aides apparently forgot to order an absentee ballot.
Mr. Bush hasn’t missed a GOP contest since he started voting in Crawford in March 2002. An administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated Saturday that White House staff had slipped up on the paperwork for requesting a mail-in ballot this time.
Texas also allows a generous period for early in-person voting. But that option expired Friday while Mr. Bush was in India and Pakistan.
Early Saturday, with the president at risk of missing the election — including a nomination fight for the local congressional seat — the White House announced he would fly to Crawford after a meeting with the Russian foreign minister at the White House. He’ll arrive at the polls at the Crawford Fire Station before the 7 p.m. closing.
“He intends to vote, and he’ll be down there to vote,” said White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
Repeated requests for more information from White House press secretary Scott McClellan went unanswered. His mother, State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Republican, is running for governor as an independent.
Mr. Bush will spend Tuesday night at his ranch, then fly Wednesday to New Orleans to tour the ongoing hurricane recovery efforts.
He has voted by mail nine times in four years since registering as a McLennan County voter, county records show, but this would be only the third time he’s voted in person. The others were in the Nov. 2002 general election and in Nov. 2004, when he won a second term as president.
Todd J. Gillman reported from Washington. Staff writer G. Robert Hillman reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.
President Bush added a side trip to his Texas ranch to vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary after aides apparently forgot to order an absentee ballot.
Mr. Bush hasn’t missed a GOP contest since he started voting in Crawford in March 2002. An administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated Saturday that White House staff had slipped up on the paperwork for requesting a mail-in ballot this time.
Texas also allows a generous period for early in-person voting. But that option expired Friday while Mr. Bush was in India and Pakistan.
Early Saturday, with the president at risk of missing the election — including a nomination fight for the local congressional seat — the White House announced he would fly to Crawford after a meeting with the Russian foreign minister at the White House. He’ll arrive at the polls at the Crawford Fire Station before the 7 p.m. closing.
“He intends to vote, and he’ll be down there to vote,” said White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
Repeated requests for more information from White House press secretary Scott McClellan went unanswered. His mother, State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Republican, is running for governor as an independent.
Mr. Bush will spend Tuesday night at his ranch, then fly Wednesday to New Orleans to tour the ongoing hurricane recovery efforts.
He has voted by mail nine times in four years since registering as a McLennan County voter, county records show, but this would be only the third time he’s voted in person. The others were in the Nov. 2002 general election and in Nov. 2004, when he won a second term as president.
Todd J. Gillman reported from Washington. Staff writer G. Robert Hillman reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.