Al Sharpton, ML King III, Charles Steele to Alabama
Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and SCLC President Charles Steele are said to be coming to Greensboro Sunday for a rally to show support for two women charged with five counts related to illegal absentee voting. (A circulating flier is below.) I suspect if the trio knew much about the election history of the area that they might re-think their visit. (Despite what the flier says below, King is already iffy.)
Campaign 2000 & Beyond, the organization behind the event, has had candidates win with absentee ballots far beyond the norm in our state, with even over 30% of their vote totals coming from absentee ballots. This is an area where the public official responsible for absent ballots is the wife of a candidate and changes the mailing address for absentee ballots from the courthouse to her own personal address.
This is not to impugn the innocence of the two women charged, just as when I see the graffiti I don’t know who painted it.
Of all the people who might benefit from the rally, I suspect no one will as much as Attorney General Troy King who announced the indictments last month. AG King (no relation to Martin Luther King III) apparently enjoys taking a few swings in public, and he could use a win. This looks like the kind of issue where King could wind up some haymakers and rally some support. Unfortunately, the whole episode may not do much for race relations in the area.
Click on the flier above to view it in a pdf file.
Sorry for not having a link on some of the Greensboro-related info here. Back when, I did a lot of research for a post on Greensboro area politics that never materialized. If someone wanted to press a bit for sources, I’d try to track them down. Or you could ask anyone from the area.
Thanks to readers for pointing me toward this information.
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Here we go again. How many times have we heard this in Hale County.
This Campaign 2000 and Beyond is up to their usual tricks. A leader of this
group in Hale County is Senator Bobby Singleton. If you want to see
how many absentee votes he received in 2004 and 2005 just go to
www.thedemocracydefenseleague.com or to the Secretary of States website.
The real issue here is not race, but a crime against democracy. He refers
to the DDL as a group made up whites. The only requirement for membership
is that you be a registered voter in Alabama. The membership application
does not ask your race.
Comment by pattie — October 4, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
How can any person with knowledge of what has happened in Hale Co. say that this is about “race” ? The election which was overturned was a Black vs.a Black. The Blacks have disenfranchised their own people. All the Campaign 2000 persons can say is “this is a race issue”. When Blacks illegally vote other Blacks, where is the race issue? It is within their own race. They have committed blatant voter fraud (not voter’s fraud,as stated in their memo)and they have been caught. How disappointed Martin Luther King would be with these people….this is certainly NOT what he wanted. How sad it is that this group continues to try to create unrest among themselves rather than trying to live the Christian life and do what is best for the benefit of all rather than for the benefit of the few who belong to Campaign 2000.
Comment by anonymous — October 4, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
I think he meant that anytime an area is subject to national media attention, with one of the major players being Sharpton, that it can strain race relations. Quite possibly, AG King might do well to prosecute, but this could be seen as a witch hunt, if cast in the right light. In all it is atleast and ethical injustice that the absentee ballots are recieved at a citizens personal address. Where is the accountability in that?
Comment by AJ in Foley — October 5, 2007 @ 8:17 am
AJ in Foley, I think that the Anonymous commenter was not talking about me when he/she wrote, “How can any person with knowledge of what has happened in Hale Co. say that this is about ‘race’ ?” but rather about the circulating memo. But you are right that I have not said that this matter is about race. And yes, increased attention to those who claim it is about race often strains relations with people who feel strongly that race is not a key issue.
Comment by Danny — October 5, 2007 @ 8:44 am
Friday I submitted the following to the AG’s office, probably too late to get any response before Monday:
[1] Can a prosecutor seek a change of venue for a trial, or is that something only the defense can do?
[2] If a prosecutor can seek a change of venue, would the grounds that activity in the community involved is likely to have intimidated or otherwise tainted the jury pool for the upcoming trial likely be entertained favorably by the presiding judge?
[3] In view of the fact that the rally which has been announced will take place this coming Sunday (October 7, 2007) in Greensboro, AL in support of the two defendants who were indicted on voter fraud charges in Hale County may influence potential jurors for their upcoming trial, if allowed, would someone involved in the prosecution (I’m assuming it will be someone from your staff) seek a change of venue if it seems prudent?
Comment by Don — October 6, 2007 @ 6:54 am
I’m back because I forgot to check the “Notify me” space.
Comment by Don — October 6, 2007 @ 6:58 am