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KREM TV Channel 2 reporter John Langeler’s first story about Jim Brannon’s lawsuit contesting the November 3, 2009, Coeur d’Alene City election left many voters with more questions than answers. The lawsuit is still in First District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson’s courtroom. In spite of ongoing efforts by the City of Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County Clerk Dan English, and Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh to obstruct Brannon’s and his attorney’s access to evidence, critical information is beginning to ooze out through the cracks in the city and county’s rapidly deteriorating armor.
Langeler’s story mentioned Alan Friend, a resident of Canada, and it briefly showed a portion of his Registration and Absentee Ballot Request. Here is the entire form. Note the date, 10/08/2008, by Friend’s signature. Also note that Friend listed his residence address as 1423 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho 83814, yet investigators have been able to establish Friend’s presence in Coeur d’Alene only between June and October 2007. Finally, in examining the form, pay particular attention to the affirmation. A material misstatement of fact on this form is grounds for conviction of perjury.
The news story also included a partial image of the sign identifying the address of 1423 Government Way, the business address which Friend listed as his alleged residence. Here is a photo I took of the complete sign at 1423 Government Way. Presumably these are the business tenants at that address. According to his Registration and Absentee Ballot Request form and one of his websites, Alan Friend is a psychologist who resides in Canada. The copyright date on that website is 2006, and the website lists the same address in Canada as he listed as the mail-to address on his 2008 Registration and Absentee Ballot Request. Yet investigators were told that Friend was at 1423 N. Government Way between June and October 2007.
Here are some of the questions that are being asked, as they ought to be:
- Who, if anyone, at 1423 N. Government Way knows Alan Friend, and what is the nature of their association?
- How did Alan Friend come to list 1423 N. Government Way as his residence address for voter registration? Who, if anyone, encouraged or solicited Alan Friend to use that or any other address in Coeur d’Alene for purposes of voter registration?
- Why does Alan Friend, who was apparently in Coeur d’Alene only for 4-5 months have an ongoing interest in voting in Coeur d’Alene elections?
- What effort, if any, did Kootenai County Clerk Dan English make to determine the validity of Alan Friend’s using 1423 Government Way as his residence address for voter registration?
- What action, if any, does Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh intend to take? Given his office’s involvement in obstructing Brannon’s access to evidence needed to pursue a lawful election contest, can McHugh objectively make charging and prosecution decisions in this case?
- Are there violations of federal law that need to be investigated and prosecuted federally rather than in state court? Clearly state and international boundaries were breached. It seems obvious that using the interstate mail and wire telecommunications services to facilitate illegal voting ought to be scrutinized for possible prosecution under the federal mail fraud and wire fraud statutes.
These and more questions need to be answered. Kootenai County needs honestly and competently administered elections. Beyond Kootenai County, though, Idaho’s election laws need reexamination by the legislature. On January 1, 2011, a new set of election laws take effect. The Idaho Secretary of State, currently Ben Ysursa, is responsible for advising the legislature on election law administration. For years, Ysursa has been touting Kootenai County Clerk Dan English as being a stellar election administrator. As evidence to the contrary surfaces , Ysursa’s accolades appear undeserved at best. Idaho’s legislators, each of them, owe it to their constituents to hold Ysursa accountable for ensuring the new laws do not contain the same flaws as the old ones.
Finally, the citizens of Idaho and Kootenai County must acknowledge it is not up to Jim Brannon and his attorney, Starr Kelso, to bear the cost and responsibility for identifying and correcting the egregious defects in Idaho’s election laws. Those are the duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of State and the Kootenai County Clerk. So far, Brannon and Kelso have been performing Ysursa’s and English’s duties and serving the voters of Idaho far better than Ysursa and English.
Excellent post, Bill! There are so many questions. Here just a few more:
Why was he not required to fill in the box “State Driver’s License or ID number”?
Why is someone allowed to vote in CdA elections if they only lived here for 4 months several years ago?
Is Jonelle Simpson, who has an office at the same Gov. Way address, related to JUDGE SIMPSON ?
Comment by mary — March 18, 2010 @ 7:47 am
How can our local election’s office allow this abuse? People need to stand and say this is not acceptable.
Thank you Bill for the additionally information.
Comment by LTR — March 18, 2010 @ 7:59 am
Mary,
Your first two questions are exactly what Dan English should have been asking. There is another question he should have asked as well: The form item 4a specifies that the Current Address listed be “(where I live now).” Is the Stanley Street address in fact a residence address, a business address, or both?
As for any connection between Jonelle Simpson and Judge Benjamin Simpson, I’d refer you to Stebbijo’s website, Stebbijo’s Place and her posts on this topic.
Comment by Bill — March 18, 2010 @ 8:07 am
LTR,
You are exactly right — the citizens need to let public officials know their conduct is not acceptable.
Comment by Bill — March 18, 2010 @ 8:14 am
If Jonelle Simpson is related to Judge Simpson and her address is the same as the bogus registration, those are grounds for dismissing Judge Simpson from this case, if not also from the bench. I would hope that Mr. Kelso in on top of this. What a place this is…
Comment by rochereau — March 18, 2010 @ 8:25 am
Well, apparently she is his wife. Now isn’t this an interesting turn of events. Now, I understand that “ethics” is a foreign word among many of the tiny tadpoles in power here. And to these self same wannabe frogs,the meaning of conflict of interest rates right up there with deciphering quantum physics. But in any court, this little fact would constitute irrefutable evidence. Will it in the CDA court? Want to make any bets?
Comment by rochereau — March 18, 2010 @ 8:36 am
I would like to know if English and/or McHugh knew that Jonelle Simpson is married to the judge. The plot is definitely thickening.
Comment by citizen — March 18, 2010 @ 8:44 am
It will be interesting to see if any mainstream papers pick up on this very questionable development.
Kudos to Bill for getting this fine detail to the public!
Comment by Stebbijo — March 18, 2010 @ 11:20 am
We have 2 irrefutable facts here. An unqualified voter, listed at the same address as the sitting judges wife, voted in this election. And as this Alan Friend lives in Canada, is he even an American citizen? I think these facts should be made available to this reporter John Langeler. One simply can’t depend on some paper picking this story up. Has Mr. Kelso been apprised of this new detail?
Comment by rochereau — March 18, 2010 @ 1:27 pm
FYI: According to this newspaper article, Judge Benjamin Simpson’s wife’s name is Jonelle. Please click the link below.
http://www.ktvb.com/home/Otter-names-Simpson-as-new-1st-District-Judge-for-Idaho-80084187.html
Comment by ibeme — March 18, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
According to Mr. Friend’s web site he states “As I now reside in Canada, I no longer keep office hours in the Washington area, but am available by phone.
ContactAlan Friend
1522 Stanley Street
Nelson BC V1L 1R3
Canada
Phone: 250-551-1272
Central Washington Psychotherapy Associates
1700 17th Street N.W., Suite 203
Washington, DC 20009
202 232-4900
© 2006 CWPA
Comment by LTR — March 18, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
I looked up Mid-Life Mentor – one of the professionals associated with the address. What/Who is that? It comes with no name attached. Lake City Billing – who/what is attached to that?
Comment by Stebbijo — March 18, 2010 @ 7:59 pm
Well, there is something very wrong. I looked up Nancy Powers who was listed on the sign. I don’t know where to start with the mid life mentor and I am not going to call.:-)
The Secretary of State’s information shows the last annual report from year 2006 from that address. She claims stock shares on her site? Curiouser and Curiouser!
Comment by Stebbijo — March 18, 2010 @ 8:34 pm
I don’t know if this will pull up or not.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 18, 2010 @ 8:42 pm
The most curious thing, to me, is that our ELECTED officials, the County Clerk and the County Prosecutor, do not seem interested in uncovering the facts in this election challenge. They stonewall and are part of the problem, not the solution.
Perhaps there is nothing sinister at hand; perhaps it is just a handful of fraudulent voters acting individually. But the longer the County blocks legitimate public inquiry, the larger the scepter of corruption appears to loom.
Government officials who have nothing to hide, hide nothing.
Comment by mary — March 19, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Mary,
McHugh is between the dog and the fire hydrant. He is obligated to defend a county employee (English) as long as the employee’s defended conduct was during the lawful performance of his official duties. Statutorily it would have been completely appropriate for him to ask the Idaho Attorney General to become involved. Unfortunately, AG Wasden, through his deputy Kane, has already intervened on behalf of the Coeur d’Alene City Attorney. The same is true of SoS Ysursa through his deputy Hurst. Wasden and Ysursa need to both answer to the Idaho legislature about how Idaho’s election administration laws allowed the kind of neglect and dereliction demonstrated by Kootenai County Clerk Dan English. The dog is the State, and the fire hydrant is the City. But ultimately the one getting urinated upon is Jim Brannon and the voters in Kootenai County who want honest elections.
As I noted in the post, there is statutory authority for McHugh to ask the federal government to get involved since state/international boundaries were crossed and interstate telecommunications and mail were used in furtherance of election fraud. The question isn’t “Can he?”; the question is “Will he?” McHugh may be under significant political pressure from some very influential people to keep this local if possible, but in any case within the state boundaries. The last thing Wasden, Ysursa, English, and their cronies in the City want is the feds coming in and investigating election irregularities in Idaho. They likely are very concerned that once the door to a federal investigation was opened, the investigation wouldn’t stop with election irregularities.
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2010 @ 8:56 am
Let us hope.
Comment by Dan — March 19, 2010 @ 8:59 am
Isn’t a relative of County Commissioner Rick Currie involved in this too? Could that be the cause of some of the foot-dragging?
Comment by mary — March 19, 2010 @ 10:08 am
I have to admit, I sometimes hate it when the issue of corruption and CDA politics come up. Most people would
not want to admit it exists in their area, but I also, believe it exists in almost every local,state gov’t around the country.Power and money corrupts and the longer someone holds elected office, the better the chance for malfeasance or corruption IMO. That’s why I wholeheartedly, agree with having term limits.
Comment by kageman — March 19, 2010 @ 1:47 pm
I have a question:
If Judge Simpson voted in the local election and just happen to vote for Mike Kennedy, how can we expect him to offer a fair ruling on the election investigation?
Comment by LTR — March 19, 2010 @ 2:16 pm
LTR,
According to the Secretary of State’s IdahoVotes website, Judge Simpson lives in Cataldo and was not eligible to vote in the Coeur d’Alene City election. Now, if he had lived in Canada…
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2010 @ 2:37 pm
kageman,
Many public officials who go bad started out being honest. They began to cut corners in order to achieve what they believed were noble purposes. The sociological term is “noble cause corruption.” The more corners they cut without being caught, the easier it becomes to rationalize their increasingly dishonest behavior. Eventually, they cross over the not-so-bright line between legal and illegal. Once they realize they’ve crossed the line, few have the moral fiber, courage, and integrity to do what needs to be done to cross back. At this point, the official is not only dishonest, s/he can be and by that time usually is “owned” by anyone who wants to own a public official. That is how it happens almost everywhere.
Then there are some who were crooks before they were elected or appointed.
We’ve got both here.
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2010 @ 2:49 pm
.Otter names Benjamin Simpson as new ID 1st District Judge
: Friday, December 25, 2009 12:00 am
The Associated Press | 0 comments
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter named Kootenai County Magistrate Benjamin Simpson to replace 1st District Judge Charles Hosack.
Hosack is retiring at the end of the year.
Simpson was an associate, then a partner in a Wallace-based law firm for 15 years before becoming a magistrate judge in January 2000. He now lives in Coeur d’Alene with his wife, Jonelle.
The 60-year-old magistrate is originally from Colorado but got his law degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.
Bill: Any chance the state Idaho Votes website is out of date? The above news release says Judge Simpson lives in Coeur d’Alene.
Comment by LTR — March 19, 2010 @ 4:39 pm
LTR,
Yes, the IdahoVotes website is based on information supplied by the various county clerks like Dan English. If Simpson and his wife moved to Coeur d’Alene but did not notify the county clerk of their change their address, the IdahoVotes website would still reflect their old address. If they established residency in Coeur d’Alene more than 30 days before the November election but voted in person or absentee at an election with ballots based on their former address, they would have been voting illegally.
Comment by Bill — March 20, 2010 @ 12:40 pm
One more instruction to note on Friend’s Form 76a: In item 6, Additional Information, Friend instructs English to, “Please send ballots to me at the indicated address indefinitely,as a permanent absentee voter. ”
Permanent absentee voter? Doesn’t the word “permanent” suggest a change of residency? Shouldn’t this instruction have been a red flag for Dan English and Deedie “We’re not the residency police” Beard? Darn right it should.
Comment by Bill — March 21, 2010 @ 8:25 am
Wow. How simple it would be for a corrupt person to abuse these loopholes in the law, and the negligence of the County Clerk, to exploit the system and throw a close election! How simple it would be.
Comment by Dan — March 21, 2010 @ 9:38 am
Why isn’t there more interest in these recent developments? Those of us who voted legally have had our vote cheapened. Have the employers of those involved been notified? It’s been quite a while since I last posted on this forum; but this is just too important to remain silent any longer.
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — March 22, 2010 @ 8:09 am
2C3I,
Good point. The total number of illegal votes allowed by Dan English and then certified by the Corrupt d’Alene mayor and city council effectively disenfranchised the same number of legal voters. They ought to be outraged. Their votes weren’t just cheapened — they were nullified by English’s dereliction. Of course, we don’t know yet exactly how many illegal votes were cast, because Brannon and his attorney have not been allowed to viewed the evidence thanks to the obstructive actions of the City and County.
I doubt that the employers of illegal voters have been notified. That notification will come officially when those who committed criminal actions are indicted or arrested.
Comment by Bill — March 22, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Illegal voters won’t be prosecuted since John “Witch Hunt” Cafferty is now acting as a defense attorney for the County. Commissioner Currie won’t take any action. He’s up for election. Perhaps the real estate agent mentioned might be disciplined by her broker or the real estate licensing board if they were notified. Where does the 1423 Government Way Story go from here? To Barry McHugh? To Judge Simpson?
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — March 22, 2010 @ 9:47 am