(Tennessee) Activist alleges abuse of power...

FLY — A Maury County political activist says the secretary of state used the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as a tool to intimidate him because of his efforts to advocate election reform.

But a spokesman for Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett says the secretary was only concerned about what he deemed to be a possible threat of violence.

The dispute started when Bernie Ellis, a resident of the Fly community, referenced a civil uprising called the Battle of Athens, Tenn., in an Internet post on June 18. Five days later, two Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents from the Columbia office arrived at his farm to question him about his comment, Ellis said.

Ellis said the agents told him they had received a complaint of a “terrorist threat against a government official.”

Jerri Powell, a TBI spokeswoman, confirmed Hargett filed a complaint with the TBI about a threat but wouldn’t say whether it was classified as terrorism-related. Powell said agents determined after their interview that an investigation did not need to be opened.

Ellis belongs to the citizens’ group Gathering to Save Our Democracy and has been urging the state Legislature to switch from electronic voting equipment with no paper trail to paper ballots that would be read by optical scanners. Ellis said he viewed Hargett’s complaint as an effort to intimidate him and squelch dissent.

“This had nothing to do with anything I had done of a threatening nature, and everything to do with an effort to silence me by using the TBI in ways that were both inappropriate and setting a bad precedent,” Ellis said.

Ellis said the officers were “cordial” during their questioning, and he has “nothing but respect” agents who were just doing their duty.

The Battle of Athens, which happened in McMinn County in 1946, involved World War II veterans and other citizens taking up arms to prevent local political bosses from stealing an election, according to an article in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. The ex-GIs traded gunfire with supporters of the political machine for nearly six hours — eventually laying siege to the jail where the sheriff and 50 deputies had sought refuge with the ballot boxes.

Ellis said he referenced the Battle of Athens because it is an example “there aren’t too many options available to us” when votes are not being counted the way they are cast.

Blake Fontenay, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said Hargett never asked TBI agents to visit the farm. He said Hargett merely notified law enforcement of the posting “out of an abundance of caution.”

“In this day and time, whenever you have got somebody referencing a violent uprising — which is what the Battle of Athens was, a violent uprising against the government — you have to sort of wonder. ... He was just trying to be cautious,” Fontenay said.

Ellis’ Internet post was in response to a Knoxville News Sentinel article detailing the defeat of a bill that would have postponed changing the state’s voting equipment until 2012. In 2007, the General Assembly passed a bill requiring counties switch to paper ballots by the 2010 elections.

In his comment, Ellis wrote, “If your readers will email me .... I will send them several handouts that document the misinformation campaign that is attempting to keep our elections unsafe and tamper-prone. We need to nip this nonsense in the bud, or we need another Battle of Athens (TN) — sooner rather than later.”

Ellis said he is investigating the possibility filing criminal charges against the secretary of state.

This seems to be what happens when you question how are elections are being handled here in Tennessee...

My personal experience: During the last election, I had real problems with the computerized voting machines. For example, I had to go back and rework the touch-screen four times before the summary ballot displayed at the end actually matched my voting preferences. I would touch the candidate of my choice, only to have the machine cast my vote for the opponent. On one state level election, the machine would not even let me cast my vote until the fourth try. I'm not anti-technology... But when a system is doing this, one has to ask: what is going on with this terminal? Is this just poor software or is something more afoot? Why did the terminal work correctly after four tries? Why, when I approached the voting precinct captain with one of the poll workers to explain my concerns, did the poll worker look nervously at the precinct captain and then the precinct captain give her a slight sideways glance as if to say "are we caught?" I truly believe that they knew something wasn't right about the machine...

I recorded the number on the machine and called the Elections Commision Office in order to report the problem. From the reaction I go on the call, you would have thought that I was calling about a burned out street lamp on a dead end street - sort of an "okay, we'll get it fixed soon" attitude. Imagine my (lack of) surprise the next morning, when I was listening to the final results of the election on the radio, to hear the Election Commissioner say that "there were no problems with any machines other than operator error." I've used touch screens for years with no problems - there was no operator error. It was just another case of "Nothing to see here - move along..."

So now, this gentleman goes on the internet and makes a reference to the "Battle of Athens" (Tennessee) regarding what might have to be done if we don't rectify the problems with the computer terminals. Last I checked, speech is still protected under the Constitution. (I have made much worse statements regarding solutions to abusive and oppressive governments/agencies - even here on Free Republic.) Next thing he knows, the TBI is knocking on his door. Then denial on the part of the state official.

I think this is only a peek at things to come... Maybe those vets at the "Battle of Athens" had the right idea...

Regards,
Raven6

How about the Battle of Bunker Hill? The leaders in the country if that is what you can call them have reason to be afraid. This country is like a quiet tinder box. I hope it does not have to explode into violence but if history is an example freedom is almost never won with out it. Our country is being stolen out from under our feet, our culture is being shredded and twisted without firing a shot, good men and women and their families are being debased while the most depraved are lifted up in their behaviors which cost us all dearly. Our enemies hold our credit line and we are trillions of dollars over the limit and the same men and woman who ran up the tab are running up even more as we speak during this economic downturn.
What is left that can be done? Elections don’t seem to work not just because they don’t produce the outcome with individually desire but primarily because of a media that produces the smoke for the smoke filled living rooms which is a pollutant that is far more dangerous than any produced by our factories.

I don’t know when the day will come that people will express the rage at their leaders that is several times over well deserved but that day is coming.

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