Ind. election chief found guilty of voter fraud
A June 2011 file photo shows Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White during questioning at the Indiana Recount Commission hearing in Indianapolis. / AP Photo/Darron Cummings
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana's top elections official could lose his job and his freedom after jurors convicted him of multiple voter fraud-related charges on Saturday, leaving in flux the fate of one of the state's most powerful positions.
Republican Secretary of State Charlie White has held on to his office for more than a year despite being accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms.
A Hamilton County jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge.
White expressed no outward emotion as the verdict was read, and later said outside the courtroom: "'I'm disappointed for my family and the people who supported me."
White and his attorneys said the fate of his elected post remains unknown and ultimately may have to be decided by the governor or state supreme court. "We will review our options," he said."
White's attorney, Carl Brizzi, said he will ask the judge to reduce the charges to misdemeanors because his client has no criminal background and has a long record of public service.
The jury verdict came after a weeklong trial in which White, who had vigorously protested the charges in hearings before a state elections panel, presented no defense.
Prosecutors said he used his ex-wife's address instead of a condo he had with his fiancDee because he didn't want to give up his $1,000-per-month Fishers Town Council salary after moving out of that district. He faced seven felony charges, including voter fraud, perjury and theft.
White, 42, has said the charges ignored a complicated personal life in which he was trying to raise his 10-year-old son, plan his second marriage and campaign for the statewide office he won that November. He said he stayed at his ex-wife's house when he wasn't on the road campaigning and did not live in the condo until after he remarried.
No sentencing date was set.
Republican special prosecutor John Dowd said he's also unsure about the fate of White's position, but expressed satisfaction about the verdict.
"We believe it was about someone who violated the law and cheated the system - and gamed the system," Dowd said. "And, obviously, the jury thought the same way."
State law bars anyone convicted of a felony from remaining in office. It wasn't immediately clear how quickly White could be replaced or who might succeed him.
A Marion County judge already has ruled that White should be replaced by Democrat Vop Osili, the man he defeated by about 300,000 votes in the November 2010 election, but that ruling is on hold pending an appeal.
But state law allows the governor - in the case, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels - to appoint a successor.
White has resisted calls to resign from Democrats and Republicans, including Daniels.
Attorney Karen Celestino-Horseman, who watched the trial and spoke on behalf of Indiana Democrats following the verdict, said the party believes White's conviction further affirms that Osili should be secretary of state.
"(White) has been convicted, but the judge has left it open for misdemeanor sentencing. That's something that's going to have to be examined," she said.
During his closing arguments, special prosecutor Dan Sigler Jr. argued that White knew that he was committing voter fraud but did it anyway for political power.
"If we aren't going to enforce election law against the secretary of state of Indiana, who are we going to enforce it against?" Sigler said.
Brizzi, rested Thursday without presenting a defense.
Brizzi told the jury during his closing arguments Friday that White's name was on the condo's bills and documents because he was paying for his fiancee and her children to live there, not because he was himself living at that address.
"Their case is based entirely on assumption, innuendo and leaps," Brizzi said.
White maintains he was staying at his ex-wife's house when he wasn't on the road campaigning and did not live in the condo until after his remarriage.
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A Hamilton County jury found republican Secretary of State White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury.
Ooooooops......another republican bites the dust for voter fraud!
Did they ever prosecute any of the cases in the Acorn voter fraud? They probably got swept under the rug with the Black Panthers voter intimidation case.
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Actually after Bush declined prosecution the Obama Administration got an injunction against one of the two men outside the polling location barring similar activities in subsequent elections -- so yes, the Democrats did more than the Republicans in that case too.
No surprise there !
Sept. 20, 2010 |(94) Comments
Madison — A plan by conservative groups to look into allegations of voter fraud could amount to an illegal obstacle to citizens' right to vote, a liberal group said Monday.
The group One Wisconsin Now said that it had obtained an audio recording of a tea party leader in June outlining plans to work with the state Republican Party and another group, Americans for Prosperity, and use postcards to verify voters' addresses as well as provide volunteer poll workers to challenge voters on Election Day.
Officials with the groups involved confirmed there had been discussions and that a trial run of 500 letters had been sent to Milwaukee voters. But they said that One Wisconsin was twisting their motives of trying to prevent voter fraud and that the plans had ultimately been shelved anyway.
"I think a lot of it is much ado about nothing," said Tim Dake, an organizer of Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty who acknowledged that the recording of him was authentic. "Nothing has really come of this."
Scot Ross, executive director of the One Wisconsin, said that if carried out the plan could affect legitimate voters and violate election laws. He said that his liberal group was concerned that the conservative organizations were targeting college students and minority voters and that he was filing a complaint with state and federal officials asking them to look into the matter.
"All of these claims should be investigated," said Ross, who declined to say who had made the recording of Dake or offer other details beyond the fact that the recording was made legally.
Ross said he believed the recording showed that groups affiliated with the tea party movement such as GrandSons of Liberty were seeking to challenge voters at the polls based on whether postcards could be delivered to them at their registered address and whether they responded to those postcards.
Reid Magney, a spokesman for the state Government Accountability Board, said that his group had received the complaint from One Wisconsin Now. Magney did not comment further on the complaint but said under state law voters cannot be challenged simply because a piece of mail can't be delivered to them.
V. Pre Election Day Operations New Registration Mailing
At whatever point registration in the state closes, a first class mailing should be sent to all new registrants as well as purged/inactive voters. This mailing should welcome the recipient to the voter rolls. It is important that a return address is clearly identifiable. Any mail returned as undeliverable for any reason, should be used to generate a list of problematic registrations. Poll watchers should have this list and be prepared to challenge anyone from this list attempting to vote.[6][7]
Shortly before the 2004 election, Palast also obtained a caging list for Jacksonville, Florida, which contained a high number of African Americans and registered Democrats. The caging list was attached to an email which a Florida Republican party official was sending to RNC headquarters official Tim Griffin.[7][8][9]
The Republican National Committee sent letters to predominantly urban minority areas in Ohio. When 35,000 letters were returned as undeliverable, the party employed poll watchers to challenge the voters. Voting rights groups challenged the RNC in a case that went to the Supreme Court, but the RNC was not stopped from challenging those voters. Similarly, the RNC sent out 130,000 letters in Philadelphia hoping to cage voters there. Philadelphia is a city with a majority African American population that votes heavily Democratic. The Republicans were attempting to cage votes by people who were likely to vote for the Democratic candidates.[10]
In the Ohio court challenge, the RNC submitted a caging list that targeted urban and African-American areas in and around Cleveland.[11]
Journalists found evidence that the Republican National Committee (RNC) attempted to use caging to suppress votes in five states in the 2004 US presidential election. For example, in New Jersey RNC officials used caging lists to challenge absentee ballots and absentee ballot requests.[11]
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus made a curious claim on MSNBC today, alleging that Wisconsin is a state "that was absolutely riddled with voter fraud."
February 1, 2012
Scott Walker "John Doe" Investigation Now Involves RNC Chairman Reince Preibus, Herman Cain Campaign Manager Mark Block
"Walkergate" is unfolding into a masterwork in American conspiracy as the complaint explaining the charges against two of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's former staff members includes an email that may prove Walker had knowledge of the illegal activities happening around him. The charges have also implicated current chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, and his ties to a voter suppression scandal involving both Americans for Prosperity and former Herman Cain campaign manager Mark Block.
All of this was in play during Walker's 2010 gubernatorial run and much of the organizing may have been happening on county time in Walker's Milwaukee County executive offices.
Walker's various campaigns have displayed a pattern of corruption dating back to his failed attempt to win the seat of president of the Associated Students at Marquette University in 1988. Now, an FBI "John Doe" Investigation into corruption during his tenure as County Executive of Milwaukee County (2002-2010) has resulted in the arrests of people involved in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign and his current administration and has implicated various members of the state's Republican Party. The recent charges against former Walker aides Kelly Rindfleisch and Darlene Wink shed light on the deep-seeded corruption that ran rampant in Walker's offices during the 2010 election run.
Kelly Rindfleich has been charged with four felony counts for her role in fundraising for Brett Davis' failed bid in the 2010 Lieutenant Governor