Official charged in voter fraud

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Stacy Horany/Times Record News
June 4, 2005

Hardeman County Precinct 1 Commissioner Johnny Akers was indicted late Thursday on six counts of election fraud, according to a news release from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office.

The indictment was one of the first in alleged voter fraud in Texas.

Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said Akers violated a portion of the Texas Election Code which makes it illegal for a person to knowingly possess an official ballot or an official carrier envelope provided to another.

The release said the violation is punishable by a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to $2,000 for each count of election fraud.

more: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_3829970,00.html

[rzemanfl]

1. What party? Don't want to give a paper in Texas my info just to

read the article.

[Freddie Stubbs]

2. You don't have to register to get a usernam and password

Just go to: http://www.bugmenot.com

[rzemanfl]

4. Thanks. n/t

[eleny]

3. Try this site for the article

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1013

[rzemanfl]

5. Thanks. n/t

[Internut]

6. Quick google

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:EoRAEFYcNwkJ:amarillonet.com/stories/011104/new_areacanfile.shtml

Akers is half way down the page under the "Democrat" heading.

[LightningFlash]

7. Johnny Akers a democrat?

So why are the republicans arresting democrats for "voter fraud", when they are the ones guilty of vote fraud and messing with the machines?

Hmmm...is somebody getting too close to the inside op now or such?

[pgh_dem]

8. of course he is, whydya think it got reported?

Fair and balanced and all that...

A guy mails in 6 ballots for other people, a woman sends in a ballot for her mother who died 2 days earlier... it's pretty much the same thing as disenfranchising thousands of voters by deliberately misallocating machines, rigging machines to default to republican, twisting a web of specious rules relating to who can use a provisional ballot and whether it can be counted at all.

It's the old 'hey they're doing it too!' approach. Like a bankrobber pointing out one of the tellers palmed a 20 during the crime, and the helpful DA cuts a deal with the bankrobber to get testimony on the teller.

[pgh_dem]

9. Freddie, are you convinced there was fraud by republicans

in Ohio and/or Florida?

Just curious.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. Yes

I have been in this game long enough to know that people on both sides have probably pulled something in most, if not all, of the states.

[pgh_dem]

11. Ok, but do you think Rep fraud is comparable to your cited example?

In other words, do you think the fraud cancels out?

On one hand, you have a person casting a single ballot on behalf of their 2 days dead mother, facing huge fines and years of prison. The other case involves a person 'handling' six ballots he should not have, but makes no allegation that he changed the ballots, or abridged those voters' rights in any way (not enough info from the article...it reads like Akers took ballots from likely supporters of his, likely Dem voters, and cast the votes on their behalf). So he facilitated the casting of six votes that would otherwise have been six non-votes (assuming those folks didn't find some legally appropriate way to cast their ballots).

On the other hand, you have Republican fraud in OH and FL. You think is on the same order of magnitude?