Judge: Let's air details of fraud { Dead voters for Ophelia Ford }

Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | 5/22/7 | Marc Perrusquia

[SmithL]

A judge said Monday he thinks the public is owed a more detailed explanation about an alleged plot by three poll workers to throw a 2005 election to Ophelia Ford, now a state senator.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge John P. Colton took guilty pleas earlier this month from the three election workers who avoided jail time in a deal with prosecutors.

Advertisement The workers admitted to voting fraud charges against them, yet never said what motivated them to fake at least three votes, two of them cast in the names of dead people.

"I think the public has a right to know exactly what went on,'' Colton told The Commercial Appeal in a rare interview involving a case before him.

Colton said he considered not accepting the guilty pleas because no public explanation was given for the election workers' motives. He said he's speaking publicly now because of the case's importance.

"Voting to me is a high honor this country has,'' the judge said. "When it's desecrated, it makes me sad and it makes me shudder.''

Prosecutors say there's no evidence that Ford or anyone else was involved in the plot that helped the Memphis Democrat eke out a 13-vote win over Republican challenger Terry Roland in a September 2005 special election for the vacant District 29 state senate seat.

"There is no indication that this involves some broader conspiracy to steal the election," said Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons. "If it had gone to trial, there would be no evidence to the contrary."

Following a newspaper investigation of the close vote, Senate leaders cited the fake votes and other irregularities when deciding to void the election and toss Ford from the Senate. In a rematch in last November's general election, Ford beat Roland in a landslide.

Since resuming office in January, Ford, 56, has gripped Tennessee with a new rumpus, a tale involving a fall from a bar stool, a puzzling public tirade and an illness that's caused her to miss much of this legislative session.

The senator told WMC-TV News last week that she suffers from chronic anemia. She admitted to falling off a bar stool at Nashville's Downtown Sheraton across from Legislative Plaza, saying the episode was triggered by her anemia and by "not eating.''

Roland said Ford's actions are a disservice to voters in District 29, which stretches from South Memphis to Millington.

"Let's face it, we're not being represented,'' said Roland, who was equally critical of the deal that poll workers struck with Gibbons' office.

"They'll never make me believe there wasn't some kind of (larger) conspiracy here,'' Roland said. "I don't think justice was served.''

In a plea deal entered May 10, alleged ringleader Verline Mayo admitted to 10 felonies, including voter fraud, making false entries on election documents and official misconduct. Mayo, 70, received the stiffest sentence: two years' probation, $1,000 in fines and 200 hours of community service.

Codefendants Gertrude Otteridge, 65, and Mary McClatcher, 53, pleaded guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor each and were sentenced to one year probation plus fines and community service.

With felony voting fraud convictions on their records, they can't ever work the polls again, nor will they be able to get their voting rights restored.

"We felt it was a good resolution for the community,'' said Asst. Dist. Atty. Linda Kirklen, who said prosecutors considered the defendants' ages and other factors when striking the deal.

Kirklen said investigators have no evidence anyone else was involved and don't know what motivated Mayo, a longtime election official and Democratic Party activist to influence the others to commit fraud.

"That is the big question,'' Kirklen said. The indictment charged only that Mayo acted "with the intent to obtain a benefit in the form of additional votes for senatorial candidate Ophelia Ford," but didn't say why.

Mayo didn't respond to two messages left on her home phone seeking comment.

Prosecutors declined to release an investigative report compiled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The TBI probe followed an investigation by The Commercial Appeal that found that someone had forged the names of two deceased elderly voters to cast ballots in the District 29 race. The newspaper found that other votes were cast in the names of voters whose addresses were vacant lots.

The irregularities occurred in North Memphis' heavily Democratic Precinct 27-1, where Mayo had served as an Election Day poll boss for decades. The Shelby County Election Commission has since abolished the precinct, merging it with an adjacent one.

In a series of conflicting media interviews, Mayo suggested at one point last year that then-Election Commission inspector Eddie Hayes -- who earned a living as a funeral director at the Ford Funeral home owned by Ophelia Ford's relatives -- played a role in the scandal.

Hayes, who oversaw Precinct 27-1 and other North Memphis precincts during the Sept. 15, 2005, election, denied Mayo's assertions.

[SmithL]

More info:

GUILTY PLEAS

Three former Shelby County poll workers have pleaded guilty to charges they faked votes to throw a 2005 state Senate election to Ophelia Ford.

Verline Mayo: Admitted to 10 felony counts, including illegal voting registration, false entries on election documents and official misconduct. Sentenced to 2 years' probation, $1,000 in fines and 200 hours of community service.

Gertrude Otteridge: Admitted to one felony count of voter fraud and one misdemeanor involving illegal registration. Sentenced to one year probation, $200 in fines and 100 hours of community service.

Mary McClatcher: Admitted to one felony count involving illegal registration and one misdemeanor. Sentenced to one year probation, $500 in fines and 50 hours of community service.

[SmithL]

Verline Mayo

Mary McClatcher

Gertrude Otteridge

[SmithL]

Showtime?

[PeterPrinciple]

She admitted to falling off a bar stool at Nashville’s Downtown Sheraton across from Legislative Plaza, saying the episode was triggered by her anemia and by “not eating.’’

The dog ate my paper......

[NonValueAdded]

In a rematch in last November's general election, Ford beat Roland in a landslide.

Well, the people in her district have spoken, post-fraud. They fully deserve her.

[AppyPappy]

Ophelia “I’m not drunk, I’m just drinkin” Ford

[Old Professer]

A key cultural component of this mess is the result of the rematch in the General Election where the vote was overwhelmingly for Ophelia; the public clearly showed its preference for “the Devil it knows...”

BTW, I believe she has missed more sessions than she has attended so far this year.

[WesternPacific]

The names of these three ladies, along with a pardon, will probably be included in the fine print of the revised Amnesty Bill. We do take care of our own, don't cha know.

[Enterprise]

Guilty!

[Enterprise]

"a tale involving a fall from a bar stool, a puzzling public tirade and an illness that's caused her to miss much of this legislative session."

How dare anyone even THINK of depriving these wonderful people of a representative that, uh, well, doesn't represent them too much.

[traditional1]

"there would be no evidence to the contrary"

Why is it now that in this country today, every time the statement above is made in relation to a crime that smells from the git-go, there's no denial of having done the crime, just the allusion to "no evidence" is available to PROVE the case?

Evidence seems to mysteriously disappear, such as Law Firm Billing records (for 2 years after subpoena), witnesses disappear (Jim McDougal, Vince Foster, etc.), and "there's no evidence to the contrary" is voiced in defense of the perps.....

[spinestein]

[”I think the public has a right to know exactly what went on,’’ Colton told The Commercial Appeal in a rare interview involving a case before him.]

Baloney. The public’s right to know ends where it interferes with the right of Democrats to be elected to public office, and if it takes vote fraud to stop the Republican juggernaut, then the end justifies the means.

[rhinohunter]

I believe she has missed more sessions than she has attended so far this year.

Is that a bad thing???

[freekitty]

First mistake was not giving jail time to these felons.

[freekitty]

Second mistake was to try and coddle and mollify the already angry public with nonsense like the public should know bs. I do agree the public should know; but this judge has in his discretion the opportunity to let the people know. What lot of hooey this is.

[eyedigress]

From 911:
When a dispatcher asked the employee if the guest needed an ambulance, the man responded, "she's extremely intoxicated, so I can't tell," according to a 911 recording released by Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management & Emergency Communications Center.

Employee=Bartender perhaps

[pepperdog]

Amen. Voting fraud should be dealt with harshly and voting fraud by election officials should include hard time! There is no acceptable excuse! The minimal fines and sentences of these three are as disgusting as their actions.

[Old Professer]

Don’t ask me hard questions this early in the day.

[silver charm]

“.......don’t know what motivated Mayo, a longtime election official and Democratic Party activist to influence the others to commit fraud.”

Duh, they don’t know??? She’s a “long time democratic activist/election official. That explains it perfectly. IMO, more investigation would reveal that she has been throwing elections for years.

[arnoldpalmerfan]

Thanks for posting the pictures.