Johnson County Law Enforcement Officers Accused Of Vote Fraud In Wake Of Charlie White Conviction

I warned people that you could expect more felony charges being trumped up against people for exercising their right to vote in the wake of the specious charging and conviction of former Secretary of State Charlie White on felony vote charges for doing something no differently than voters in this state do at every election. A Johnson Co. Prosecutor facing his own investigation of his strange personal conduct involving accusations that he stalked a female employee of the Johnson Co. Sheriff's department is now asking a special prosecutor to investigate whether four employees of that same Sheriff's department and a Franklin police detective committed vote fraud by casting votes in the wrong precinct. The Star reports:

A special prosecutor will investigate allegations of voting irregularities involving five Johnson County law enforcement officers.

Saying he wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict, Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper filed a request Feb. 15 asking a judge to name a special prosecutor to investigate whether four Sheriff's Department employees and a Franklin police officer voted in the wrong precincts in the May 2010 primary . . .

According to documents filed in the Johnson County clerk's office, which oversees elections, the allegations involve four Sheriff's Department employees: Chief Deputy Randy Werden, Deputy David Emery, crime lab investigator Melissa Carter and Communications Director Bryan Wolfe. None of the four responded to messages from The Indianapolis Star . . .

Franklin Police Detective Scott Carter also is alleged to have voted in the wrong precinct.

In a telephone interview, Carter said he and then-wife Melissa Carter had moved to another home in Franklin, which was in the same voting district, and explained the situation to poll workers on Election Day 2010.

"I went to the precinct to vote and I was told to vote at the old precinct," Carter said. "I'm a law enforcement officer and I wasn't aware there were stipulations involving this.

"If I was an average person," he said, "I'd be afraid to vote just because they're going to be afraid they're going to do something wrong."

The circumstance described by Carter allows him to vote one last time at his old precinct after he moves as long as he lives in the same congressional district. If he had not updated his voter registration to his new address yet, he would be told by election officials to return to his old precinct to vote where election officials should also have him to fill out a change of address form so that he is registered in the proper precinct at the next election. This happens in virtually every precinct in this state every election day. Carter is absolutely correct. Average joes should be scared to death to vote in this state based on the legal standards adopted in the Charlie White case. Over zealous prosecutors could literally prosecute thousands of Hoosier voters every election using the standards applied to White.

According to the Star report, a person who doesn't even live in Johnson County, Ethan Allen Bailey, delivered the complaint and supporting documents to the Johnson County Clerk's office. It would be interesting to find out if Bailey has any connection to the Johnson Co. Prosecutor. Melissa Carter, one of those accused of committing vote fraud, is the same woman that Prosecutor Brad Cooper was accused of stalking.