Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, asked a colleague today to look into alleged voter irregularities in a 2008 school board election in Progreso in South Texas—and also whether Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office failed to pass along its knowledge of the allegations in response to inquiries from Anchia and state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.

Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville, chairman of the House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics, said the panel would look into the matter. writing:

    If our committee sees real evidence of voter impersonation in Hidalgo County, I will immediately forward it to the proper authorities for further investigation and prosecution. In addition, allegations that legislators and local prosecutors were kept in the dark about possibly bogus claims of voter impersonation are serious and will be pursued.

Abbott’s office said Friday night the allegations in question remain under investigation. Spokesman Jerry Strickland said they also were included in lists of referrals sent the lawmakers—though mistakenly under the name of another county (some heck of a typo, it appears).

Strickland said that “because of a clerical error, the Hidalgo County election fraud case referenced by Rep. Anchia was labeled as a Dickens County case. The clerical error was neither committed by an investigator, nor a lawyer—and is immaterial to the investigation or prosecution of this or any other case.”

Anchia’s alarm probably reflects intense watchfulness in advance of next week’s Texas Senate hearing on a proposal requiring Texas voters to present a photo ID or other self-identifying documents before voting. Republicans generally embrace the move as a step against election fraud; Democrats suspect the change is a backdoor move toward discouraging some oft Democratic-leaning elderly and minority voters, lacking photo IDs, from turning out.

Anchia’s letter—fetchable here—states that as early as last Aug. 19, both the Texas Secretary of State’s office and Abbott’s office were aware of the “suspicious allegations.” The letter notes that was before Anchia asked Abbott, in September, to provide an updated list of referrals related to violations of the Texas Election Code. It also was before Watson asked this February for a similar breakdown, Anchia’s letter states.

Unsaid by Anchia’s office and unproven: The Hidalgo County allegations, cooked up or not, may have been deliberately withheld from the Democratic legislators so the information could be revealed by Republicans advocating the photo ID mandate.

Anchia’s move, conversely, may be an attempt to defuse such a GOP bomb.