Perhaps some of you recall the admirable - and successful - efforts of residents (including some Kossacks) in Watauga County, NC to keep a polling site at Appalachian State University open after the county elections board there voted to eliminate it. That action came as a result of draconian voter suppression efforts in recent years since Republican Teabaggers took over the state government in 2010 and strengthened their hold in 2012 by gaining the governorship. The trial opened on a challenge to voter suppression laws by the NC NAACP, ACLU and U.S. Department of Justice this past Monday in federal court in Winston-Salem, where a dedicated contingent of Kossacks marched our support in the 92º heat.
NC board member involved in disputed voting plan
A Republican member of the North Carolina elections board worked closely with local officials in their effort to eliminate a heavily Democratic voting site, a plan a judge ruled was intended to suppress voter turnout, according to hundreds of emails reviewed by The Associated Press.
The state Board of Elections is supposed to act as a neutral arbiter when policy disputes arise involving county elections boards. The emails show that Paul J. Foley worked closely behind the scenes with GOP officials in Watauga County as they crafted a plan to eliminate the early voting site at Appalachian State University.
A lawsuit was filed by seven Watauga County voters who claimed the plan burdened younger voters. A superior court judge ruled in their favor, saying the site closure occurred in order to "discourage student voting." The emails examined by the AP between Foley and Watauga County attorney and former elections board member Stacy Eggers IV frequently made partisan reference to "the opposition" and "the other side." The Appalachian State University polling site at the student union was the only early voting site in Watauga County to vote solidly Democratic in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Interestingly, it turns out that state BoE member Foley is in hot water for more than just working behind the scenes to disenfranchise young voters in Watauga County. This guy's got a history of ignoring the rules, and his shenanigans go well past attempts to keep Democrats from voting, all the way back to possibly illegal campaign donations in 2012.
After Democracy North Carolina filed a formal complaint with the elections board, AP reported on April 25, 2013, that a majority of the board members said Burns' contributions warranted an investigation. The next day, McCrory replaced all five board members - who were appointed by his Democratic predecessor - with five new members, including Foley. The Burns investigation was already underway.
McCrory wasn't the only state official who had something to worry about in regards to this campaign donations probe, but he has more to hide than most...
The Associated Press recently reported that most of the $235,000 in checks from [Chase Burns of Oklahoma] were delivered to candidates by Moore & Van Allen, a Charlotte law and lobbying firm where McCrory worked until just days before he was sworn into office in January.
Almost immediately new BoE member Foley insinuated himself into the ongoing campaign contributions probe. And not just on behalf of McCrory's exposure on that issue...
NC election board member's firm worked for target of probe
Despite a North Carolina ethics law that demands officials remove themselves from proceedings if they have a financial relationship with a participant, Foley did not step aside for nearly a year and a half, until State Elections Director Kim Strach learned of nearly $1.3 million in prior payments for legal services from Burns' company to Foley's law firm.
Even after Foley's failure to recuse himself from the probe was brought to Elections Director Strach's attention Foley continued to press for regular updates on the investigation. Findings are to be made public this week.
What this looks like from here at my little homestead is that this state Board of Elections business is about to blow the lid off deeply entrenched corruption on a massive scale in the state government of North Carolina, and the assault on voting rights is just one thread in its very tangled web. It includes the governor and 60 other Republican officeholders (including Thom Tillis) who look to have eagerly taken campaign donations from an organized criminal cartel aiming to control the NC legislature in its favor.
Burns was arrested in March 2013 on felony racketeering and conspiracy charges in Florida related to a fake veterans' charity prosecutors say was used to launder $300 million from sweepstakes cafes there.
Court filings from the Florida case showed Burns' company made another $98 million from internet cafes in North Carolina, though the games were illegal here.
Graft, fraud, money laundering, political corruption... oh, my!
I was in Winston-Salem on Monday on the day the voting rights trial began, listening somberly as Reverend Barber spoke so eloquently and forcefully about how our precious right to vote was paid for in blood. My heart is fully in the fight, I will stand even to my last breath against this outrageous assault on North Carolinians orchestrated by the Tarheel Teabilly Taliban and controlled by the fricking Mafia.
I find it both interesting and hopeful that this lesser known but definitely related criminal involvement is going public at this very opportune moment. This bears close attention, so I've written about it here to let you all know it's happening. Not sure what it all means, but I'm most certainly willing to join in a chorus of outrage and demands for prosecutions when the state BoE investigation findings are announced in the midst of the Winston-Salem trial. I suspect we're in for some rather impressive fireworks over the next few weeks, and it very well may cripple the Republican Party in North Carolina. So please stay tuned, things years in the making can come together fast!