Indiana's Republican Election Chief Convicted of Felony Voter Fraud

The GOP has been obsessed with the issue of voter fraud, maintaining that it is a far bigger problem than commonly thought. Well, apparently they would know. Indiana's Republican Election Chief was convicted on 6 counts of Felony Voter Fraud, Perjury, and Theft.

http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-election-chief-found-guilty-voter-fraud-073551102....

Yes, in the most high profile incidence of Voter Fraud in recent memory, it is an Indiana REPUBLICAN elected official (the one in charge of elections for his state) who was the perpetrator. A Republican Special Prosecuter in Indiana, one of the states to recently tighten voter ID laws under Republican administrations, convicted The Secretary of State of voting using a false ID, Perjury, using a false address, and theft.

The theft charge related to the fact that the Secretary of State previously held an office for which he was not legally eligible based on his REAL address for which he collected a salary from taxpayers.

Prosecutors explained "he used his ex-wife's address instead of a condo he had with his fiancée because HE DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE UP HIS $1,000-per-month Fishers Town Council SALARY after moving out of that district."

Charlie White, is still pictured on the Indiana Secretary of State's Election Division page, as of the time of this posting.

http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2401.htm

Gov. Mitch Daniels immediately appointed an interim Secretary of State; but deferred making a permanent appointment or asking for Charlie's resignation, explaining:

"I have chosen not to make a permanent appointment today out of respect for the judge's authority to lessen the verdict to a misdemeanor and reinstate the elected office holder," Daniels said in a statement. "If the felony convictions are not altered, I anticipate making a permanent appointment quickly."

The justification for asking the judge to reduce the verdict to a misdemeanor is explained by White's attorney, Carl Brizzi, who 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."

Gov. Mitch Daniels apparently buys this argument, as he is holding the office open and implies that he will reinstate White if the charges are reduced at the Judge's discretion. Others might point out that White's "long record of Public Service" includes the period during which he fraudulently voted, held an office he was ineligible for, and fraudulently collected thousands of dollars of taxpayer salary.

Sounds to me that Charlie's "record of Public Service" was more a "record of the Public serving Charlie". Not uncommon among politicians I suppose. LOCK HIM UP!

FURTHER READING:

Find Charlie's official SoS Bio here (as of 4 Feb. 2012):
http://www.in.gov/sos/2363.htm

Candidate Charlie White's Statement on the need for Voter ID to combat Voter Fraud:

“My office has vigorously investigated various forms of election fraud in multiple counties and we combat daily the problem of identity theft in consumer transactions. The Voter ID statute was a reasonable step to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and prevent fraudulent voting from taking place, and so I am pleased that the Indiana Supreme Court has declared that the statute is constitutional. Indiana’s Solicitor General, Tom Fisher, who argued successfully before the United States Supreme Court on this very issue, deserves considerable credit for the constitutional defense of the law before Indiana’s high court,” - Charlie White, Republican Candidate for Secretary of State

Is that sweet or what?