By: Kathy Benton

Kathy Benton — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:30:21 +0000

Interesting post! I was one of the few citizens attending the hearing, (and, while there is no excuse for the 86% of registered voters who didn’t bother to get informed and vote for who would be their mayor last month, something they could have (very easily) done by absentee ballot, or by taking 5-10 minutes out of their day on Election Day, or at their convenience during business hours during Early Voting the entire week before,) I do feel obliged to defend the folks who were interested in the hearing Friday, but had to be at work, and couldn’t get time off for the 9AM-11:30 AM hearing, which was held with little notice. I suspect that your bottom line, (and those of the plaintiffs,) was adversely impacted by having “your day in court.” Since I’m a stay-at-home-mom, I got to be there Friday morning in court, and observe our system at work.
Your report is spot on, of course. I would add that, IMO, it seemed like Mr. Washington tried to take on the role of an aggressive prosecuting attorney, and turn Mr. Alley and Mr. Courson into the defendants in the case. I appreciate Judge Hulslander’s repeated efforts to keep the hearing on course, (and Mr. Washington in line.) The judge seemed very interested in fully understanding all the details of the case, and gives every indication of being a fair judge.
Since I was constantly scribbling notes, I can say pretty certainly that it was Ms. Fine, Craig Lowe’s attorney, who asked Ms. Carpenter if her office was responsible by law to make sure the info that voters provide is accurate. It was indeed one of the very few questions Ms. Fine asked. It was a good one, because it answered Mr. Washington’s repeated insinuation, that Mr. Alley and Mr. Courson had no business filing their suit, and “holding up the will of the voters.” Apparently, it is the concerned local citizens who are responsible for investigating the fairness of elections, and that is what Mr. Alley and Mr. Courson tried to do.
While talking with some neighbors yesterday, I was encouraged to hear unsolicited comments from several of them about the mayoral race, and about the hearing. People are still following this, and are not giving up on the idea of someday having common sense, conservative representation at city hall again. (It has been way too long!)
I appreciate the sacrifice that Mr. Alley and Mr. Courson have made to shine the light on what appears to be the need for some long overdue cleaning up of the voter rolls. Hopefully, other concerned voters will join in, and help with the legal bills that are soon to come. It takes a close election to see that the voter rolls need some attention, and also for all of us to notice that a loophole in our state election law makes voter fraud way too easy to commit, and get away with. I hope that Sen. Oelrich, and our new Dist. 22 Rep., and maybe even Rep. Chestnut, will introduce legislation next session in Tallahassee to require proof of residency, and provisional balloting for those who can’t show proof when they show up at the polls, as well as a bill that requires canvassing boards to at least attempt to notify absentee voters before their votes are discarded for any reason, thereby giving the voter the opportunity to provide proof that their vote is valid, and to provide election data well before the deadline to contest an election occurs. We need to let those who represent us know that clean elections are a priority for us.

Comments on: Challengers stay alive in election contest hearing

By: Kathy Benton