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Today I attended the pre-trial conference of Susan Harris and Ronald Prior. They were each charged one count of violating Idaho Code 18-2322 – Illegal Registration by Voter in the November 3, 2009, Coeur d’Alene City election. The conduct of that election was contested by Jim Brannon. Harris and Prior were scheduled to go to trial later in July, however Magistrate Judge Burton accepted an Alford Plea from both of them today and fined each of them $200 and gave them each 90 days unsupervised probation.
In an Alford Plea, the defendant does not admit the act, but admits that the prosecution could likely prove the charge at trial. The court then pronounces the defendant guilty.
Well, that’s an eye opener. It pays to commit voter fraud from any angle. The chances that you may get caught will take a massive amount of work and court hearings worth an appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court. When it is all said and done, nobody really knows who the illegal voter voted for – doesn’t matter. It only cost them 200 bucks and some unsupervised probation (like why bother to include that in the judgement?). What a deal.
Comment by Stebbijo — July 15, 2011 @ 6:43 pm
Stebbijo,
It may be a little sacrilegious, but I think the penalties imposed on Harris and Prior were fair. Yes, they failed to properly understand their obligations under the election laws, but the real culprit is our former county clerk Dan English and his minions whose remarkable failures of duty created the conditions of ignorance and exploitation that enabled illegal voting. Among English’s minions I include Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, his deputy Tim Hurst, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, and his deputy Brian Kane. Ysursa and Hurst, along with Wasden and Kane have failed in their official duty to keep the Idaho Legislature properly apprised of needed changes in Idaho’s election laws.
Comment by Bill — July 15, 2011 @ 6:53 pm
The REAL culprit also may have been “the good ole boys” asking Dan English to look the other way so that a “head nodder” would be placed where needed. We may never know the truth.
Comment by concerned citizen — July 15, 2011 @ 7:11 pm
Bill, I agree that a person can make an honest mistake in voter registration given the wrong information. I also agree that it is the county clerk’s position to get it right. I also hope the Idaho Supreme Court gets it right and throws those Canadian votes OUT.
Comment by Stebbijo — July 16, 2011 @ 5:29 am
concerned citizen,
We know as much of the truth as the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney, the former County Clerk, and the City of Corrupt d’Alene want us to know.
The new County Clerk and his staff are diligently and quietly trying to straighten out a lot of messes they inherited. Part of straightening them out is to educate the public. We, the people of Kootenai County, have to accept some of the blame for trusting but not verifying that our public officials are honest and diligent.
Comment by Bill — July 16, 2011 @ 6:28 am
Stebbijo,
I think it is more likely that the appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court will focus on the errors District Court made throughout the progress of the case. Certainly allowing Permanent Residents of Canada (who have declared as if under oath to the Government of Canada that Canada is their permanent residence) to declare under oath to Kootenai County that they are simultaneously residents of Coeur d’Alene ought to awaken even the most lethargic judge. I believe the Permanent Residents of Canada who made such a declaration to Kootenai County have more to fear from the Government of Canada than from the State of Idaho. Permanent Resident is an immigration status in Canada that confers certain benefits which can be revoked if the GoC finds their oath of Coeur d’Alene residency conflicts with their declaration of Permanent Resident in Canada.
Comment by Bill — July 16, 2011 @ 6:35 am
Bill,
It seems that the verification process has become increasingly difficult.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — July 16, 2011 @ 7:29 am
Susie,
The verification process is based on what the Idaho laws require. It was and is the duty of the Secretary of State, with the cooperation and guidance of the Attorney General, to recommend the changes necessary to keep the laws viable and current. Cliff Hayes, Pat Raffee, and Carrie Phillips and the Elections Office staff are doing their best to verify the validity of current registrations, but they are working within a system of outdated and ignored laws.
The Coeur d’Alene election contest lawsuit might very likely have been avoided if former County Clerk Dan English had simply obeyed the law prescribed in Idaho Code 34-1011. A lot of exceedingly ignorant people in this community wrongly blamed Jim Brannon and Starr Kelso for the election contest lawsuit. The lawsuit was made necessary because of Dan English’s failure of duty. Ysursa and Hurst get some blame, because they blindly and blithely issued election policies that conflicted with the law. The Idaho Legislature must remind Ysursa that his and the county clerks’ obligation is to enforce the laws as passed by the legislature, not unconstitutionally and unilaterally amend those laws through administrative policies and procedures designed to make life easier for Ysursa and county employees while at the same time jeopardizing the integrity of the state’s elections.
Comment by Bill — July 16, 2011 @ 7:44 am
My comment was unclear. I was referring to the verification of the integrity of public officials.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — July 16, 2011 @ 9:54 am
One more item on Dan English’s legacy list for us to cross off.
Comment by WannaBe JD — July 18, 2011 @ 12:14 pm