WLBT - Voter rolls stuffed with dead and absent registrants
Mississippi's voter situation is hard to believe. Places like Madison County have over 123% more registered voters than people over the age of 18.
Sue Sautermeister, First District Election Commissioner in Madison County, tried to purge the rolls, but ran into trouble when it was discovered it takes a vote of three of the five election commissioners and the purge cannot take place within 90 days of a federal election.
Sue Sautermeister is working hard in the First District of Madison County to start a purging of the voter rolls as soon after the election as possible. She has file drawers full of names of people who haven't voted in years and are known to be dead.
"We have people who registered in 1965 who have never voted," she says. "We have 486 people (registered who are) over 105."
Showing posts with label Sue Sautermeister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sue Sautermeister. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
DA: Sautermeister cleared
Roll action cleared by DA - Madison County Herald - An investigation by the Madison County district attorney's office found no criminal intent by Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister when she inactivated more than 10,000 voters before the March primary election. District Attorney Michael Guest, in response to an inquiry by The Madison County Herald, said last month his office concluded its investigation and does not anticipate any further proceedings.
The names, while not purged from the system, were removed from the voter registration books and had to be restored by the Secretary of State's office before the March presidential and congressional primaries. Some of the names removed belonged to residents who have voted in recent elections. Congressional candidate David Landrum, whose name was on the March ballot, was removed from the poll book along with his wife. "No voters were removed from the voter rolls," Sautermeister said. "I was simply doing what I was elected to do, namely keep the voter rolls maintained and accurate."
The district attorney's worked with the FBI and the Secretary of State in determining that "there were more people on the voter rolls than there are actual voters. So a clean-up was merited in an effort to bring the voter records into compliance with the law," Guest said. "Our investigation determined the following: that the election commissioner had requested funds to notify those that were being removed from the rolls but didn't receive the requested funding; that the records that were deleted were added back into the system before any election was held; and we uncovered no evidence that the election commissioner was removing names, in an attempt to illegally disenfranchise those whose names were removed, or to impede the outcome of an election. Therefore no criminal intent was uncovered. To that end, it is the decision of this office that unless new information develops this case should not move forward.
Sautermeister said that Madison County's voter rolls are "so bloated with names of people who have died or moved out of Madison County that it is 122 percent of the county's entire population including those under the age of 18. "Counting an estimate of 10,000 who are under 18, this then means that a good percentage of the names on the Madison County voter roll is not eligible to vote. This situation is a very large open door to voter fraud, and I will continue to do all I can to properly correct the situation," she said.
The names, while not purged from the system, were removed from the voter registration books and had to be restored by the Secretary of State's office before the March presidential and congressional primaries. Some of the names removed belonged to residents who have voted in recent elections. Congressional candidate David Landrum, whose name was on the March ballot, was removed from the poll book along with his wife. "No voters were removed from the voter rolls," Sautermeister said. "I was simply doing what I was elected to do, namely keep the voter rolls maintained and accurate."
The district attorney's worked with the FBI and the Secretary of State in determining that "there were more people on the voter rolls than there are actual voters. So a clean-up was merited in an effort to bring the voter records into compliance with the law," Guest said. "Our investigation determined the following: that the election commissioner had requested funds to notify those that were being removed from the rolls but didn't receive the requested funding; that the records that were deleted were added back into the system before any election was held; and we uncovered no evidence that the election commissioner was removing names, in an attempt to illegally disenfranchise those whose names were removed, or to impede the outcome of an election. Therefore no criminal intent was uncovered. To that end, it is the decision of this office that unless new information develops this case should not move forward.
Sautermeister said that Madison County's voter rolls are "so bloated with names of people who have died or moved out of Madison County that it is 122 percent of the county's entire population including those under the age of 18. "Counting an estimate of 10,000 who are under 18, this then means that a good percentage of the names on the Madison County voter roll is not eligible to vote. This situation is a very large open door to voter fraud, and I will continue to do all I can to properly correct the situation," she said.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Madison Purge Update
Madison County Journal - Change to voter rolls called into question - A county election commissioner accused of inappropriately moving over 10,000 voters from active to inactive status since the beginning of the year said she was simply doing her job. District 1 Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister came under fire late last week when it was revealed she had been changing voters' status since the start of this year. Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said this was done improperly.
Statistics indicate that there are several thousand more voters registered on the books than actual eligible voters. According to estimates from the 2006 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 87,419, but only 63,000 of those residents are over 18 and eligible to vote. As of March 7, there were 70,871 registered voters on the books, according to numbers provided by Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook.
Sautermeister has said she will not resign from her position despite calls for her to do so, and has remained steadfast in her belief that the Election Commission has delayed cleaning up the voter rolls for far too long.
Westbrook said she had received a surprisingly low volume of calls from voters concerned about the issue over the past week. "Either people are not alarmed, or it's one of those things they'll think about on Election Day," she said last Friday. "Every one of us thought we would be bombarded."
Sautermeister admitted in an interview last week that "the timing may be off" because of Tuesday's federal election, but maintained that keeping the voter rolls clean should be a priority for Election Commission members. "This is part of our job, to keep the voter rolls clean," she said. "This is something we're supposed to be doing. The others knew I was doing it." She added that she believed there was a legal difference between making voters inactive and purging them from the books and had requested clarification from Hosemann's office before Wednesday.
Voters may be made inactive if these notification cards are not filled out and returned in 30 days. Inactive voters who do not vote in the two subsequent federal elections are purged from the voter rolls.
"It appears Sue Sautermeister inactivated voters but before sending the required notice to voters," Chaney told the supervisors on Monday. But Sautermeister countered that since the county had never undertaken such an effort before, it was unclear what the correct procedure should be for the county.
"We still don't know how the process works," she said, adding that some commissioners from other counties had told her that voters could be made inactive prior to notification cards being sent.
Westbrook said the commissioners had been collecting returned mail since they took office at the start of 2005 as the first step towards cleaning up the voter rolls.
The words "purged" and "inactive" had been used interchangeably but incorrectly over the past week, according to Westbrook, since purged voters are those who are deceased or those who have felony convictions that forbid them to vote.
Sautermeister said she hoped the situation would raise awareness of the county's ongoing problem with inflated voter rolls. Too many people, she said, are not voting in the correct precincts and should update their voter registration information whenever it is necessary.
Westbrook and Sautermeister differed about the status of Mississippi Third District congressional candidate David Landrum, a Madison County resident, whom Sautermeister made inactive. While Westbrook said she would not have inactivated Landrum and recently personally confirmed that Landrum was a county resident who had recently moved, Sautermeister said her decision was correctly based on pieces of returned mail.
Statistics indicate that there are several thousand more voters registered on the books than actual eligible voters. According to estimates from the 2006 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 87,419, but only 63,000 of those residents are over 18 and eligible to vote. As of March 7, there were 70,871 registered voters on the books, according to numbers provided by Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook.
Sautermeister has said she will not resign from her position despite calls for her to do so, and has remained steadfast in her belief that the Election Commission has delayed cleaning up the voter rolls for far too long.
Westbrook said she had received a surprisingly low volume of calls from voters concerned about the issue over the past week. "Either people are not alarmed, or it's one of those things they'll think about on Election Day," she said last Friday. "Every one of us thought we would be bombarded."
Sautermeister admitted in an interview last week that "the timing may be off" because of Tuesday's federal election, but maintained that keeping the voter rolls clean should be a priority for Election Commission members. "This is part of our job, to keep the voter rolls clean," she said. "This is something we're supposed to be doing. The others knew I was doing it." She added that she believed there was a legal difference between making voters inactive and purging them from the books and had requested clarification from Hosemann's office before Wednesday.
Voters may be made inactive if these notification cards are not filled out and returned in 30 days. Inactive voters who do not vote in the two subsequent federal elections are purged from the voter rolls.
"It appears Sue Sautermeister inactivated voters but before sending the required notice to voters," Chaney told the supervisors on Monday. But Sautermeister countered that since the county had never undertaken such an effort before, it was unclear what the correct procedure should be for the county.
"We still don't know how the process works," she said, adding that some commissioners from other counties had told her that voters could be made inactive prior to notification cards being sent.
Westbrook said the commissioners had been collecting returned mail since they took office at the start of 2005 as the first step towards cleaning up the voter rolls.
The words "purged" and "inactive" had been used interchangeably but incorrectly over the past week, according to Westbrook, since purged voters are those who are deceased or those who have felony convictions that forbid them to vote.
Sautermeister said she hoped the situation would raise awareness of the county's ongoing problem with inflated voter rolls. Too many people, she said, are not voting in the correct precincts and should update their voter registration information whenever it is necessary.
Westbrook and Sautermeister differed about the status of Mississippi Third District congressional candidate David Landrum, a Madison County resident, whom Sautermeister made inactive. While Westbrook said she would not have inactivated Landrum and recently personally confirmed that Landrum was a county resident who had recently moved, Sautermeister said her decision was correctly based on pieces of returned mail.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Voter Purge Investigation
WLBT - Landrum To Ask For Federal Investigation - Candidate Calls for Federal Investigation into Purging - The names that were wrongly purged from Madison County's voter rolls between December and March have now been restored. Even the names of David Landrum, 3rd District Congressional candidate, and his wife and daughter. Landrum and his attorney, Dale Danks, plan to ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate why it happened. "This past Sunday, when a rather detrimental news article appeared, (Landrum ) went from an active status to inactive status," Danks says. It's believed Election Commissioner Susan Sautermeister purged the rolls by herself without the approval of the entire commission, which violates federal law. Danks says some, if not all, of the changes were made from Sautermeister's home computer. If several pieces of official mail are returned as undeliverable to a voter's address, election commissioners can use that as one step in the process of removing someone from the rolls.
Incidentally, voter profile reports show two separate Madison County addressess for Landrum: 314 Lake Castle Road, and 105 Longleaf Place. Turns out it's the same house. Landrum says the street address for the house is in the process of being changed from Lake Castle to Longleaf. At least one jury summons addressed to Landrum was returned as undeliverable, but that alone is insufficient reason to purge anyone from the rolls. And records do show that Landrum voted in Madison County last November.
If the mass purging had not been caught, more than 10,000 people may have been forced to vote by affidavit ballot. "It would have been embarrassing to be running for Congress of the United States and be told in front of the cameras that I'm inactive," Landrum says.
Clarion Ledger - Voter rolls: Punishment merited in Madison - Both Hosemann and Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said Wednesday all names should be on the poll books before Tuesday's primaries.
But that doesn't answer the question of how District 1 Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister could remove the names without prior knowledge or approval of the other four election commissioners. Neither does it answer the question of "why?"
Speculation has abounded that the names were purged in connection with the controversy surrounding 3rd District Republican congressional candidate David Landrum's voting record. The majority of voters removed live in the 3rd District, and Landrum and his wife, Jill, were two of the voters removed. Westbrook said she personally restored both of them to the official books. She said she called Landrum, and "he assured me he still lived in Madison County."
Sautermeister would not say why she undertook the actions now or why she acted on her own, saying, "It doesn't matter because they've all been put back."
The purged rolls would not have solved the issue of whether Landrum voted in 2003 for Gov. Haley Barbour, as he has claimed, providing documents purportedly with his signature, since the item in dispute is a Hinds County voter roll which doesn't seem to conform to his and his wife's signatures.
But it could be used to cloud the issue.
Incidentally, voter profile reports show two separate Madison County addressess for Landrum: 314 Lake Castle Road, and 105 Longleaf Place. Turns out it's the same house. Landrum says the street address for the house is in the process of being changed from Lake Castle to Longleaf. At least one jury summons addressed to Landrum was returned as undeliverable, but that alone is insufficient reason to purge anyone from the rolls. And records do show that Landrum voted in Madison County last November.
If the mass purging had not been caught, more than 10,000 people may have been forced to vote by affidavit ballot. "It would have been embarrassing to be running for Congress of the United States and be told in front of the cameras that I'm inactive," Landrum says.
Clarion Ledger - Voter rolls: Punishment merited in Madison - Both Hosemann and Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said Wednesday all names should be on the poll books before Tuesday's primaries.
But that doesn't answer the question of how District 1 Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister could remove the names without prior knowledge or approval of the other four election commissioners. Neither does it answer the question of "why?"
Speculation has abounded that the names were purged in connection with the controversy surrounding 3rd District Republican congressional candidate David Landrum's voting record. The majority of voters removed live in the 3rd District, and Landrum and his wife, Jill, were two of the voters removed. Westbrook said she personally restored both of them to the official books. She said she called Landrum, and "he assured me he still lived in Madison County."
Sautermeister would not say why she undertook the actions now or why she acted on her own, saying, "It doesn't matter because they've all been put back."
The purged rolls would not have solved the issue of whether Landrum voted in 2003 for Gov. Haley Barbour, as he has claimed, providing documents purportedly with his signature, since the item in dispute is a Hinds County voter roll which doesn't seem to conform to his and his wife's signatures.
But it could be used to cloud the issue.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Salter: Butler & Danks - Snowjob for Landrum
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - Maybe that March snow the weather man is promising has started early... - I have no idea what possessed Madison County Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister to purge the 2008 Madison County voter rolls in the manner she did. Clearly, David Landrum and his family were not treated fairly in that situation.
But to attempt to link that action in 2008 in Madison County to Landrum's admitted manufacture of false evidence that he voted in Hinds County in 2003 as Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler and former Jackson mayor Dale Danks are doing is simply laughable. It's comparing apples and lugnuts. Landrum and his campaign manager Neil Forbes have already admitted that the campaign made false claims about 2003 signatures that they had earlier promised were legitimate.
What Butler and Danks are doing is providing political cover for Landrum and hoping that the voters become so confused by the 2008 Madison County problem that they will conveniently forget the outrages that Landrum's campaign has already engaged in over in Hinds County's 2003 vote.
The better question is why.
But to attempt to link that action in 2008 in Madison County to Landrum's admitted manufacture of false evidence that he voted in Hinds County in 2003 as Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler and former Jackson mayor Dale Danks are doing is simply laughable. It's comparing apples and lugnuts. Landrum and his campaign manager Neil Forbes have already admitted that the campaign made false claims about 2003 signatures that they had earlier promised were legitimate.
What Butler and Danks are doing is providing political cover for Landrum and hoping that the voters become so confused by the 2008 Madison County problem that they will conveniently forget the outrages that Landrum's campaign has already engaged in over in Hinds County's 2003 vote.
The better question is why.
More on Madison Purge
Madison County Herald - Butler calls for Sautermeister's resignation - Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler is calling for the resignation of Madison County Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister who was responsible for moving almost 11,000 names from voter rolls. In addition, attorney Dale Danks Jr. is calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the removal of names from Madison County and possible impropriety surrounding the voting record of Republican David Landrum of Madison, a candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat.
Butler said she is reviewing the names of city residents included in the list of 10,942 removed from the voter registration rolls. “There are over 2,700 of our city voters included,” she said. “The more names I find, the madder I get.”
Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson said he met with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann today and was assured that all the names have been restored. Those voters will be able to vote without any problems on Tuesday, he said.
Butler said city employees and other longtime residents, who have voted in recent elections and have not changed their residence, were removed from the rolls. Landrum, his wife and daughter were removed.
“Why did she delete him? She knew he was a candidate,” Butler said. “It makes no sense she would arbitrarily delete a candidate, his wife and daughter.”
Sautermeister said she based the removals on jury notices and voter notification cards that had been returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service. However, Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said Sautermeister did not follow the procedures the commission has followed the past three years in making voters inactive.
Butler said she believes removing the thousands of names, most of whom live in the 3rd Congressional District, was an attempt to harm Landrum’s campaign. “I think it’s an attempt to derail the heart ... of his congressional base in Madison County,” she said.
Danks said he has written a letter formally requesting an FBI investigation into the series of activities surrounding the election. Besides the removal of the names, which affects the Landrum campaign, Danks said he is submitting an affidavit that raises the question of possible impropriety in Hinds County voter records. “You put all that together and it doesn’t pass the smell test,” Danks said. “This all raises enough questions for the FBI to step in and investigate.” The attempt to remove so many voters from Landrum’s home base could affect Tuesday’s results, Danks said.
Johnson said county officials will wait until after Tuesday’s election to look into Sautermeister’s actions. “We will proceed at whatever rate we need to to make sure there is confidence in our voting procedures,” he said.
Madison County has more voters on the rolls than are included in the 2000 census, Johnson said, so names obviously need to be purged. “But there needs to be a right way to do it,” he said. The Secretary of State’s Office will send representatives to Madison County to discuss appropriate ways to purge the books, Johnson said.
Butler said she is reviewing the names of city residents included in the list of 10,942 removed from the voter registration rolls. “There are over 2,700 of our city voters included,” she said. “The more names I find, the madder I get.”
Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson said he met with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann today and was assured that all the names have been restored. Those voters will be able to vote without any problems on Tuesday, he said.
Butler said city employees and other longtime residents, who have voted in recent elections and have not changed their residence, were removed from the rolls. Landrum, his wife and daughter were removed.
“Why did she delete him? She knew he was a candidate,” Butler said. “It makes no sense she would arbitrarily delete a candidate, his wife and daughter.”
Sautermeister said she based the removals on jury notices and voter notification cards that had been returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service. However, Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said Sautermeister did not follow the procedures the commission has followed the past three years in making voters inactive.
Butler said she believes removing the thousands of names, most of whom live in the 3rd Congressional District, was an attempt to harm Landrum’s campaign. “I think it’s an attempt to derail the heart ... of his congressional base in Madison County,” she said.
Danks said he has written a letter formally requesting an FBI investigation into the series of activities surrounding the election. Besides the removal of the names, which affects the Landrum campaign, Danks said he is submitting an affidavit that raises the question of possible impropriety in Hinds County voter records. “You put all that together and it doesn’t pass the smell test,” Danks said. “This all raises enough questions for the FBI to step in and investigate.” The attempt to remove so many voters from Landrum’s home base could affect Tuesday’s results, Danks said.
Johnson said county officials will wait until after Tuesday’s election to look into Sautermeister’s actions. “We will proceed at whatever rate we need to to make sure there is confidence in our voting procedures,” he said.
Madison County has more voters on the rolls than are included in the 2000 census, Johnson said, so names obviously need to be purged. “But there needs to be a right way to do it,” he said. The Secretary of State’s Office will send representatives to Madison County to discuss appropriate ways to purge the books, Johnson said.
Salter Blog: Landrum and his lawyer
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - The 110th Congress: The chair recognizes Congressman Landrum's attorney, Dale Danks, who will speak for him on this next important bill... - As the multiple stories that have become David Landrum's truly pitiful excuses for explaining the fact that making sure he voted or was even registered to vote over the last seven years continue to evolve, now it's come down to the suggestion that Landrum's somehow the target of a more than five-year conspiracy by election officials in two counties.
Caught in the web of their own failed efforts to misdirect the public and the press in this matter, now it's come to claiming bizarre conspiracy theories that ignore the basic facts of how one casts an affidavit ballot.
And that's after Landrum and his campaign manager have admitted that they offered fraudulent information to the media in an attempt to stifle criticism of his voting records from campaign opponents.
Somewhere, Sonny Montgomery must be coughing up a hairball.
Where to begin? I suppose the saddest part of the David Landrum appearance on the Paul Gallo Show today was the fact that his lawyer, Dale Danks, did most of the talking for him. Is that what we really want in a congressman? A guy who has to have a mouthpiece when the pressure's on?
If Landrum's elected, is Danks going to go hold his hand on Capitol Hill as well? Why not just cut out the middle man and send Danks?
But the bottom line here is that the 2008 Sue Sautermeister shenanigans in Madison County has absolutely nothing to do with the absence of Landrum's signature on a very present 2003 Hinds County District 78 Affidavit Ballot Register. The allegations that Rounsaville consultant and Hinds County GOP Chairman Pete Perry stole documents from that Hinds County box — if they were true — still doesn't trump the fact that there's no evidence that Landrum was ever handed an absentee ballot in the first place because he wasn't registered to vote in Hinds County and didn't sign the Hinds County Precinct 78 affidavit ballot register that is still in the box. No affidavit register book signature, no affidavit ballot.
How exactly could Perry steal something that the existing public records proves would not and should not be there in the first place? No affidavit register book signature, no affidavit ballot. This isn't brain surgery here, folks.
Perry is set to appear on Gallo's show tomorrow morning to answer the allegations made by the Landrum camp.
Landrum's political wounds here are singularly self-inflicted.
Caught in the web of their own failed efforts to misdirect the public and the press in this matter, now it's come to claiming bizarre conspiracy theories that ignore the basic facts of how one casts an affidavit ballot.
And that's after Landrum and his campaign manager have admitted that they offered fraudulent information to the media in an attempt to stifle criticism of his voting records from campaign opponents.
Somewhere, Sonny Montgomery must be coughing up a hairball.
Where to begin? I suppose the saddest part of the David Landrum appearance on the Paul Gallo Show today was the fact that his lawyer, Dale Danks, did most of the talking for him. Is that what we really want in a congressman? A guy who has to have a mouthpiece when the pressure's on?
If Landrum's elected, is Danks going to go hold his hand on Capitol Hill as well? Why not just cut out the middle man and send Danks?
But the bottom line here is that the 2008 Sue Sautermeister shenanigans in Madison County has absolutely nothing to do with the absence of Landrum's signature on a very present 2003 Hinds County District 78 Affidavit Ballot Register. The allegations that Rounsaville consultant and Hinds County GOP Chairman Pete Perry stole documents from that Hinds County box — if they were true — still doesn't trump the fact that there's no evidence that Landrum was ever handed an absentee ballot in the first place because he wasn't registered to vote in Hinds County and didn't sign the Hinds County Precinct 78 affidavit ballot register that is still in the box. No affidavit register book signature, no affidavit ballot.
How exactly could Perry steal something that the existing public records proves would not and should not be there in the first place? No affidavit register book signature, no affidavit ballot. This isn't brain surgery here, folks.
Perry is set to appear on Gallo's show tomorrow morning to answer the allegations made by the Landrum camp.
Landrum's political wounds here are singularly self-inflicted.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Madison Voter Purge
Madison County Herald - Thousands purged from voter rolls - More than 10,000 names have been removed from Madison County voter rolls since January by a single member of the Election Commission without prior knowledge or approval of the other four. District 1 Commissioner Sue Sautermeister of Ridgeland said Wednesday she was within her rights as a commissioner and acting within the law to move those voters from active to inactive status, which removes their names from voter registration books that will be used Tuesday in primary elections.
“I believe I was,” within the boundaries of the Election Commission in taking action, Sautermeister said. Sautermeister said she used jury notices and voter notification cards, which had been returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable, as the basis for removing the voters. Those voters had anywhere from one to five pieces of official returned mail that had piled up over time, she said. However, Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said Sautermeister did not follow what has been the standard practice of the commission for the past three years to purge names. “The rest of the Election Commission was not aware” of Sautermeister’s action, she said.
Purging the rolls of names of people who have died or moved from Madison County is a time-consuming process, Chaney said. Since the commission was elected in 2004, the members as a whole have not purged anywhere close to 10,000 names from the books. “That is an unusually high number,” she said. “We have not taken off names just because they had two or three pieces of returned mail,” Chaney said.
The commission makes several attempts to get voter notices out, she said. Before removing anyone from the books, the commission sends a postcard that specifically asks the voter if he lives within the voting district and points out that records show he has not voted in at least two federal elections, Chaney said. The process was not followed by Sautermeister, “not as I understand it,” Chaney said.
Sautermeister would not answer why she undertook the purge now or why she acted on her own. “That’s a moot question. It doesn’t matter because they’ve all been put back,” she said.
Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said the names of voters will be restored to the poll books before Tuesday’s primary election, However, as of Wednesday morning, they had not yet been added back, she said. Westbrook, who was informed Monday morning by Sautermeister of the purging, said she and state officials are working to make sure all the names are back on the books before the election. “It is the intent of the secretary of state’s office and the circuit clerk’s office to return all of those voters to active status so everybody can vote Tuesday,” Westbrook said.
The majority of voters removed live in the 3rd Congressional District. Some of those removed have voted in recent elections, including November 2007, Westbrook said.
Republican congressional candidate David Landrum and his wife Jill were two of the voters removed. Westbrook said she personally restored both of them to the official books.
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - Landrum: The Madison County, Hinds County conspiracy? - Sources are also confirming that the Landrum campaign is likely to ramp up previously vague allegations they've made of possible tampering with voting documents in Hinds County by accusing campaign operatives in the Rounsaville campaign and suggesting that because Landrum was hit in 2008 in the Madison County voter roll purge, a similar pattern exists in Hinds County. That's a stretch, considering that the Hinds County affidavit voter register remains available for inspection. But look for a conspiracy scenario to emerge that attempts to give the Landrum campaign some cover on what they've already admitted — manufacturing false evidence to bolster Landrum's voting claims.
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - Landrum: Madison County election commissioner purged voter rolls - A Madison County election commissioner purged some 10,000 names from the Madison County voter rolls over the weekend — and two of the names purged were David and Jill Landrum. After being notified of District 1 Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister's actions, Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook told one of our reporters that she had restored their names to the Madison County rolls and that all of the names would be restored.
David Landrum has been registered to vote in Madison County since Sept. 30, 2007, according to Madison County records. The Madison County election commissioner who took their names off the rolls has yet to explain her actions other than to claim that she was within her rights to purge the rolls. She also hasn't said why she did it, although the purging of voter rolls is a duty of election commissioners.
Sautermeister has some explaining to do.
Yet while the Landrums have a legitimate complaint regarding Madison County, the revelation of the Madison County election commissioner's actions in 2008 does nothing to address the absence of Landrum's voter registration in Hinds County in 2003 and the absence of the couple's signatures from the 2003 Hinds County Precinct 78 affidavit ballot register.
More to come...
“I believe I was,” within the boundaries of the Election Commission in taking action, Sautermeister said. Sautermeister said she used jury notices and voter notification cards, which had been returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable, as the basis for removing the voters. Those voters had anywhere from one to five pieces of official returned mail that had piled up over time, she said. However, Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said Sautermeister did not follow what has been the standard practice of the commission for the past three years to purge names. “The rest of the Election Commission was not aware” of Sautermeister’s action, she said.
Purging the rolls of names of people who have died or moved from Madison County is a time-consuming process, Chaney said. Since the commission was elected in 2004, the members as a whole have not purged anywhere close to 10,000 names from the books. “That is an unusually high number,” she said. “We have not taken off names just because they had two or three pieces of returned mail,” Chaney said.
The commission makes several attempts to get voter notices out, she said. Before removing anyone from the books, the commission sends a postcard that specifically asks the voter if he lives within the voting district and points out that records show he has not voted in at least two federal elections, Chaney said. The process was not followed by Sautermeister, “not as I understand it,” Chaney said.
Sautermeister would not answer why she undertook the purge now or why she acted on her own. “That’s a moot question. It doesn’t matter because they’ve all been put back,” she said.
Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said the names of voters will be restored to the poll books before Tuesday’s primary election, However, as of Wednesday morning, they had not yet been added back, she said. Westbrook, who was informed Monday morning by Sautermeister of the purging, said she and state officials are working to make sure all the names are back on the books before the election. “It is the intent of the secretary of state’s office and the circuit clerk’s office to return all of those voters to active status so everybody can vote Tuesday,” Westbrook said.
The majority of voters removed live in the 3rd Congressional District. Some of those removed have voted in recent elections, including November 2007, Westbrook said.
Republican congressional candidate David Landrum and his wife Jill were two of the voters removed. Westbrook said she personally restored both of them to the official books.
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - Landrum: The Madison County, Hinds County conspiracy? - Sources are also confirming that the Landrum campaign is likely to ramp up previously vague allegations they've made of possible tampering with voting documents in Hinds County by accusing campaign operatives in the Rounsaville campaign and suggesting that because Landrum was hit in 2008 in the Madison County voter roll purge, a similar pattern exists in Hinds County. That's a stretch, considering that the Hinds County affidavit voter register remains available for inspection. But look for a conspiracy scenario to emerge that attempts to give the Landrum campaign some cover on what they've already admitted — manufacturing false evidence to bolster Landrum's voting claims.
ClarionLedger.com - Sid Salter Blog - Landrum: Madison County election commissioner purged voter rolls - A Madison County election commissioner purged some 10,000 names from the Madison County voter rolls over the weekend — and two of the names purged were David and Jill Landrum. After being notified of District 1 Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister's actions, Madison County Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook told one of our reporters that she had restored their names to the Madison County rolls and that all of the names would be restored.
David Landrum has been registered to vote in Madison County since Sept. 30, 2007, according to Madison County records. The Madison County election commissioner who took their names off the rolls has yet to explain her actions other than to claim that she was within her rights to purge the rolls. She also hasn't said why she did it, although the purging of voter rolls is a duty of election commissioners.
Sautermeister has some explaining to do.
Yet while the Landrums have a legitimate complaint regarding Madison County, the revelation of the Madison County election commissioner's actions in 2008 does nothing to address the absence of Landrum's voter registration in Hinds County in 2003 and the absence of the couple's signatures from the 2003 Hinds County Precinct 78 affidavit ballot register.
More to come...
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