Denton recall petition set to be certified despite election code complaints

Janie Cindric knew a violation was occurring when former Denton City Council member Don Duff approached her late on the morning of April 26, on the second day of early voting. Cindric and her husband had served as Denton County election judges during the last presidential election and other local elections in the past and understood the Texas Election Code.

In her May 23 email to the Denton Record-Chronicle, Cindric highlighted Texas Election Code 61.003, 85.036, which states: "Please be advised that any persons who wish to gather petition signatures must do so beyond the 100-foot distance markers. Petition signatures for any type of election may not be collected inside the early voting or election day polling place or within the 100-foot distance marker. Petition gathering is considered electioneering for or against a measure, which is prohibited within the 100-foot distance marker.”

The problem, the Cindrics reported, is that Duff was gathering signatures from Robson Ranch voters for a petition to recall councilperson Alison Maguire, District 4, within the 100-foot distance marker. They said they spoke with the election judge on duty, who they claimed told them Duff was in compliance.

“You are supposed to be 100 feet from the building, not from the voting equipment,” Janie Cindric said Monday. “They had measured from the 65-feet hallway and then 35 feet outside the door and placed the sign. It looked legal, but it wasn’t because it wasn’t 100 feet from the door. …

"We wonder if the illegal attainment of signatures will invalidate them. Either way, it is noteworthy that he did NOT ethically or lawfully obtain them,” Janie Cindric wrote in her email.

But Frank Phillips, the Denton County Elections Administration administrator, said that despite sending a constable to keep an eye on Duff because of the complaints they were receiving, his office couldn’t do anything about Duff acquiring signatures within the 100-feet mark.

The state doesn’t enforce it, Phillips said. It’s up to the candidate — in this case, Maguire — to battle it out in court and allow a judge to decide if the signatures are invalid.

“That is outside our authority,” Phillips said.

It also would be difficult for the judge to determine which signatures weren’t obtained legally, he continued, because the petition simply has the day it was signed and not the time the person signed it.

Neither Maguire or Duff could be reached for comment on Monday.

Denton city spokesperson Stuart Birdseye said the City Secretary’s Office notified Maguire and the petitioners — Duff, Creeda Faegre, Venera Monahan, David Laschinger and Shirley Martin — that it had found the petition “was found sufficient,” according to a Monday email to the Record-Chronicle.

Denton City Secretary Rosa Rios is expected to certify the sufficiency of the petition at the June 7 council meeting.

The issue behind Maguire’s potential recall began with a “Who killed Hannibal” meme she posted on social media in January. At the time, Maguire was serving on the Denton County Transportation Authority and taking aim at Chris Watts for allegedly wasting money on the city buses when he was mayor. She later replaced the meme when she realized it was being taken out of context.

“This isn’t a step that I would have taken if I were in their position,” Maguire told the Record-Chronicle in a May 17 report. “But they’re exercising their rights.”

In that May 17 report, Watts is quoted as saying, “I understand this is a popular meme, and I understand that this is a celebrity, but I’ve never seen a sitting City Council member use this kind of imagery to present their political positions. This imagery is offensive. It’s about as tone-deaf as you can get. … It’s an absence of judgment to use imagery of gun violence and death to present your political position.”

Duff agreed and filed the petition along with several other Robson Ranch residents. He also offered several other reasons when he spoke with the Record-Chronicle on May 16, including her approval of the redistricting map, which made her the council member over Robson Ranch, and her support of police not clogging up the jail with low-level marijuana offenders.

He also wasn’t a fan of her stance on enforcing masks, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that several studies “have confirmed the benefit of universal masking in community level analysis” and showed that “new infections fell significantly,” according to a Dec 6, 2021, CDC report.

Meanwhile, the Cindrics will simply have to wait to see how it all unfolds at the June 7 City Council meeting. Any recall election wouldn't take place until November.

Janie Cindric said she feels Duff is using a frivolous reason to recall Maguire and wasting taxpayer dollars on it.

“What he is trying to do is to get rid of her, and he knows that if he gets her off the [council], the voters will vote for somebody that he most prefers,” Cindric said. “… He is a very conservative person, and Robson is a very conservative precinct area. Alison is progressive. The balance of this City Council probably leans more progressive than the people at Robson Ranch would like.”