Thursday, May 31, 2012

State Election Officials Refuse To Enforce Residency Law Against David McIntosh

You've heard me say it before, and I don't mind repeating it. Charlie White got railroaded by the special prosecutors who successfully prosecuted him for vote fraud, even though he never committed any violation of Indiana's voter registration law. Former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh, on the other hand, flagrantly violated the voter registration laws by fraudently claiming a residence in Anderson when he and his family actually reside in suburban Virginia. Charlie White lost his office and his law license. David McIntosh continues to work as a high-paid attorney/lobbyist for a major Washington, D.C. law firm. Connie Lawson, who had no qualms about criticizing her predecessor, is quite happy to give McIntosh a complete pass. Yep, it would appear she has no clothes. From WISH-TV:

Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said Thursday that state officials will not investigate whether former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh voted illegally, but she encouraged legislators to do their own investigation next year.
McIntosh lost a close battle for Congress in the May primary amid questions over whether he improperly voted in Indiana while living in Virginia. The Indiana Election Division failed to reach an agreement Thursday on whether to investigate that matter further.
U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar faced similar questions in his primary loss to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock. And a residency complaint ultimately led to former Secretary of State Charlie White's conviction on felony charges earlier this year.
"This type of complaint and similar recent high-profile complaints indicate that Indiana law concerning residency for voter registration, voting, and running as a candidate for public office, could benefit from legislative review," Lawson said in a statement.
It's funny how I never heard Lawson hinting that the residency laws needed legislative review when she was still in the State Senate hoping for White's demise so she could take over the office to which he was lawfully elected.

2 comments:

Greg Purvis said...

Charlie White was hardly "railroaded". He was indicted by a Hamilton County Grand Jury, convicted by a Hamilton County trial jury, and the Hamilton County judge, a Republican, made some pretty damning comments on White's conduct at sentencing. Hamilton County, you might note, is the most Republican county in the state, and White was the Republican county chair.

But I do agree that McIntosh's conduct was potentially more serious, and more flagrant, despite his feeble attempts to claim Madison County residence. Perhaps if a special prosecutor had been appointed there as well, a non-political investigation would have happened, as it did in White's case.

Gary R. Welsh said...

If the rule of law has any meaning in this state, those convictions will be overturned on appeal. I don't care who was prosecuting him. Hamilton Co. is one of the most corrupt counties in the state. Charlie White got on the wrong side of the wrong people who control that county and the fix was in to railroad him out of office. If you cared about justice, Greg, you would devote your time to exposing the real corruption in Hamilton County--the corruption that's making a small group of fat cats very wealthy at the expense of the taxpayers.