Posted on 04/19/2006 1:52:54 PM PDT by SmithL
NASHVILLE — A proposal to oust state Sen. Ophelia Ford was on the Senate agenda Wednesday after a federal judge declined to stop lawmakers from voting.
The Senate, led by its GOP majority, was expected to unseat the Memphis Democrat by nullifying her 13-vote victory over Republican Terry Roland in a September special election.
A Senate investigative committee, which has been at work since late last year, recommended Ford be ousted after finding the election results were "incurably uncertain" because of 12 improper ballots. Two were cast in the names of voters and others came from felons and people from outside Senate District 29, the committee said.
Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, is leading the effort and says there is "overwhelming evidence" to nullify the election.
Ford has contended the move is motivated by the Republicans' slim 18-14 majority in the Senate.
"The Republicans want that seat," she said last month. "They want it so bad that they'll do anything."
In January, the Senate voted 17-14 to void Ford's election, but the lawmaker filed a federal lawsuit and U.S. District Judge Bernice Donald intervened before a final vote was held. Donald ruled that the senators must follow consistent, statewide standards for invalidating ballots before overturning an election.
When Ford went back to Donald this week to stop Wednesday's vote, the judge declined to intervene, saying she lacked enough information on the Senate committee's procedures.
But the case seems destined to be back in Donald's court, perhaps as soon as this week.
Steven Mulroy, one of Ford's lawyers, said she will file a new petition with the court if the Senate overturns the election and declares her seat vacant.
"(The judge) is retaining jurisdiction and will expect us to come back in if the Senate votes the way we expect it to," Mulroy after a two-hour hearing before Donald.
Ford contends the Senate is violating the constitutional rights of District 29 residents by tossing out ballots without giving challenged voters the chance to defend their eligibility.
Ford's seat was held by her brother John until last May, when he resigned after his indictment in the Tennessee Waltz public corruption investigation.
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Associated Press Writer Woody Baird in Memphis contributed to this report.
If this Ford is black, he/she will be in power forever!
Nooo. The Dems did "anything" to get it. The Republicans followed the rule of law to correct the "error".
just wait intil they tey this trick statewide in november
oh golly what fun
This would be the first time in history that vote fraud perpetrated by the Democrats actually got correcrted.
I'm curious whether the disputed ballots were ever accounted for. Of the many that voted out of disctrict, only 18 had sent in notification of why they did such.
From what I understand, there are far more than 12 disputed ballots in all of this, as well.
SHE'S GONE!!!!! The State Senate just kicked her sorry arse out of the Senate. Terry roland can now assume his rightful place. That is, if Ophelia loses any and all further legal actions. For now, I'm thrilled.
For those of you that are only getting a bit of the story, there are a lot more than the twelve ballots that have been proven fraudulent. There are also the large group of people that live at the Ford Funeral Home and voted. People who signed affidavits that they did not vote, but were found with an odd signature and countersigned by a poll worker that was in France that day. At least eighteen more were found to not exist. Others were felons or living in places where they were ineligible to vote. Twelve is only the tip of the iceberg.
Yep, the Fords are a political machine here in West Tennessee, sort of like the Kennedys. They are mostly corupt and feel that their political offices should be lifetime appointments, as well as handed down thru the family. Laws really don't apply to them, in their way of thinking.
This contested election really stinks. They have confirmed 12 bogus votes, but there are about 40 others under investigation right now.
"Twelve is only the tip of the iceberg"
Your Democrat iceberg is huge and stretches from TN OH MI to here in WI. Pieces of it have been spotted in MO, LA and other states.
As you know, the Ford's think they own Memphis by divine right. They are ALL delusional. The State Senate has finally given one of them a huge wake up call. What will poor ole Ophelia do now? Rant and rave, play the race card to the ultimate, get Je$$e and Al down here and split Memphis racialy even more. They tried to run a corrupt campaign and lost. It took some doing, but they lost. What galls them more than anything is that they lost to a white Republican. And that is a cold, hard fact. That cannot be allowed to happen in the Ford's universe. Ding dong, the witch is gone.
You are right. They finally got caught. I wonder how many other elections they rigged over the years.
Well it has happened!!!!!!!!!!
Updated story:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1617886/posts
</sarc>
But their (il)legal address was the Ford Funeral Home.
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