OpenCDA

May 17, 2011

Election Administration Update

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: , — Bill @ 9:33 am

I voted in the school district and highway district elections at precinct 38, Woodland Middle School, this morning.  The polling place workers carefully checked my identification, and I verified that my residence address was correct as printed in the poll book.  I also noticed that the ballot I was to receive had been preprinted in the poll book.  After receiving the ballot, I checked it to make sure I had received the correct ballot and voted it.  Overall, it seemed to me as if the polling place workers performed their duties intently and diligently. 

In reviewing the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations’ quarterly report of public corruption prosecutions, I noticed this one.  It is a reminder that elections can be and have been manipulated.

Former Kentucky County Election Commissioner Sentenced to 20 Years for Racketeering and Voter Fraud Conspiracies

On March 8, 2011, in Frankfort, Ky., Charles Wayne Jones, a former democratic election commissioner in Clay County, was sentenced to 240 months in prison for conspiring  with a former circuit court judge, a school superintendent and other county officials in schemes that involved racketeering, money laundering and voter fraud.

In March 2010 a jury convicted Jones and seven others for their role in helping a criminal enterprise make millions of dollars and obtain power and authority in the county.  The jury also found that the eight men were jointly liable for $3.4 million that represented the salaries and contracts they were able to get as a result of the conspiracies.

According to information presented in court, as an election commissioner, Jones helped the Clay County board of elections control the outcome of the primary and general elections during 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Evidence at the trial proved that during elections, Jones picked election officers who assisted in corrupting the voting process at Jones’ direction.  Jones also gave specific instructions to the officers on how to manipulate the voting machines to steal votes.  This was done so that the enterprise could ensure victory for the slate of candidates they wanted in county offices. Jones intentionally prepared false election reports to be sent to Frankfort that inaccurately reported voting totals to help conceal the conspiracy.

In addition, he and co-defendant William Stivers boasted on recorded conversations how they helped pick certain juries and could influence the outcome of court cases that co-conspirator Cletus Maricle presided over as circuit court judge.  Court documents cite two civil cases in which the corrupted jurors helped render verdicts that involved multi-million dollar pay outs.

On March 8, 2011, Stivers was sentenced to 292 months in prison.

 

2 Comments

  1. Nice to see that “respected community members” eventually go to prison for this kind of thing.

    Comment by Dan — May 17, 2011 @ 10:22 am

  2. I voted about 4:00 and was pleased that, even though one of the poll workers called me by name before I presented my ID, they took my driver’s license and checked it carefully. It was sad, though, that the place was empty of any other voters. I was number 55 for the whole day, and when my husband voted about 5:40, he was the only voter in the place as well.

    GET OUT AND VOTE, IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY!

    Comment by mary — May 17, 2011 @ 6:10 pm

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