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Secretary of State says some Wilkinson voting help 'improper'
Published Wednesday, August 27, 2008
NATCHEZ — A report released by the Secretary of State’s Office Tuesday says the Democratic process has not been followed in Wilkinson County.
The report catalogs violations that took place during the June special Democratic primary.
Due to prior litigation and allegations of voter fraud from the first primary, 13 secretary of state officials were on hand during the redo to monitor the process.
Wilkinson County Election Reports
Click on the following links to download copies of the Secretary of State's Report on the Wilkinson County Special Elections:
What they found were multiple infractions and improprieties conducted by poll workers and even elected officials, the report says.
Poll workers are allowed to give assistance to people who are too physically impaired to vote independently. However, the findings read that many voters were helped when they clearly did not need assistance nor did they ask for it.
In one precinct, it was determined that approximately half to nearly 75 percent of the voters were given undue assistance.
According to the findings, in that same precinct, an elected county official helped approximately 50 voters, all of which did not ask for assistance.
“(The official) was actually touching the screen for the voters,” the report states.
Said official also drove voters to the precinct and even helped voters not on the voter roll fill out affidavit ballots.
Other incidences include a candidate sitting in a voter’s car and conversing while the voter attempted to cast a curbside ballot, highly outdated and inaccurate voter rolls and inaccurately followed procedures in handling affidavit votes.
The report also makes claims against former Circuit Clerk Mon Cree Allen.
“The circuit clerk, who was a candidate in this election, or his deputy, took actions that ultimately led to the disenfranchisement of voters,” the findings report. “Whether those actions were intentional or negligent, they inevitably lead to the perception of impropriety.”
The report concludes by stating that essentially, the democratic process was not executed.
“On the whole, based on the observations of our personnel, it is difficult to express confidence that the will of the people in Wilkinson County was accurately determined or measured by the results of the Special Democratic Primary Election on June 24, 2008,” the report stated.
Again, in the special general election, voter assistance was improper, there were irregularities involving absentee and affidavit balloting. In general though, the findings show that problems in the general election were milder than the primary.
Mississippi Secretary of State Office’s Communications Director Pamela Weaver said it’s the secretary of state office’s duty to be a watchdog over elections and making sure they are running legally.
“This is what we’ve seen,” she said of the unscrupulous actions in Wilkinson County. “And we’re doing all that we can to stop it.”
She said the issuance of the report to the public is to alert people that elections like these do happen.
“We know it’s a problem and we know that it happens and that’s one of the reasons we wanted to issue the report,” Weaver said. “We wanted the public to be aware that their vote is being stolen in instances like these and it’s a travesty.”
Any punitive measures cannot come from the secretary’s office.
“What we do is hand over our findings and basically what we’ve done is (send the findings) to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District and the attorney general’s office,” she said.
Comments
Posted by Swapmeet (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!! The monster that just won't die. LOL.
Posted by lookingout (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
this election is gonna go on forever
Posted by centrevilleresident (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Secretary of State is just now figuring this out???
Go figure.
Posted by woodvillelobo (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We all know things happened that were "improper", were down right illegal! What about the threats made to some voters if they even showed up to vote!? Imagine the surprise when they found out someone had already voted in their name!
Posted by Staple (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Secretary of State in not just figuring this out. I believe they having been knowing about these types of actions for years. What is happening voters are now coming out telling what happen to or with them in the voting booth. Some of those voters who you think can not read..............okay. They are telling their stories now.
Posted by Doc_Fungo (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why don't they just draw highest card instead of an election?
Posted by oldshool (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just can't believe it,like T-Pain and Lil Wayne
Posted by sayitloud (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pitiful isn't it?
Posted by Spanky (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The "Fire Station" is where a lot of the illegal activities occur during election time in Wilkinson County.
Posted by andy (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 4:18 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 5 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder what the ramifications are for this report? Probably nothing. No one will be punished. The state will just file the documents away and all this hubbub will be only a memory in a few years.
"Oh, you remember when Wilkinson County got the shaft...the cheaters still came out ahead, regardless of the State's findings. You know Mississippi!!!!"
Posted by Spanky (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 5 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Unfortunately I do not expect anything to be done. There is no accountability today for anything. It is just about time for the honest folks in Wilkinson County to just pack their bags and leave. We can't get help from the local, state or federal governments.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel so bad for yall, Spanky. Bells and whistles SHOULD be screaming in the state capitol, alerting the higher-ups that something's up in the County of Wilkinson! Do you think the state and feds will keep a blind eye turned now that this report has been released? I hope not, but sometimes cheaters get ahead...but just for a little while.
Posted by jrn59 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 6:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am telling everybody that I now vote in Amite County. This is so embarassing. Do ya think these idiot voters will turn out in November - hey, they may think its a county election again!
Posted by natchez500 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
well lets see if anyone goes to jail, no way as long as sanders and jackson are still in charge
Posted by natchez500 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
you are right spanky
Posted by EuropeanAmerican (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 9:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is an obamanation the way these county elections were conducted. I hope the election in November will show the will of the people.
Posted by centrevilleresident (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 8:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody is going to jail. If anyone went to jail, the NAACP and ACLU would be down here so fast saying accusing the state of sending them to jail b/c they are black. Nothing will happen . . . . as usual
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am absolutely shocked.......NOT!!!!!!!
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope they can make it an honest voting place by November.
By the way, (off subject) does anyone know the location of the manufacturing place here in Ms where the 675 illegals were busted. All the news said was that it was in Ms. Haven't heard another word on it.
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It was in Laurel Miss. it is Howrd Industries, the place where they make transformer and power generating devices.
It is just off I-59 just south of Laurel city limits.
I applaud ICE and INS on this round up. Way to finally enforce the laws.
Posted by reelman (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Democrats do what democrats do...I remember in the 80s when a bus from the retarded adult center in Brookhaven pulled up and the driver helped each one vote...isn't America great? Liberal America is nervy is nothing else.
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Now they finally arrested 600 illegals (means they broke the law) at only one business and the legal employees applauded as they were taken into custody...so what does the biased lib press say? ..."like were handled like they were criiminals"... democrat journalists do what democrat journalists do.
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Expose and defeat secular socialism while we still can...
(see theconservativecrawfish local area BLOG for much more)
Posted by southernbelle (anonymous) on August 29, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It really makes you wonder what the voted for criminals have on the higher courts in Ms. . Or maybe it's just a sign of the times . Organizations like the NAACP is just as bad as the KKK . They obviously hate whites and will do anything to keep whites from moving ahead . Too many people are actually hurt by the NAACP and their prejustice . Wilkinson County has a lot of good people ,white and black , but it's still a county filled with a lot of hate . On both sides . Nobody likes being taken advantage of . And that happens in various ways down there in Wilkinson County . This election has proven that . All you can do in this case is ride the storm . Nobody is going to jail over this and even if they get fined for their criminal acts , the amount of the fine wouldn't even begin to cover the cost of the problems they caused. The world is an oyster for the blacks of Wilkinson County .
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