I don’t have an opinion as to the legal question here, but I agree that it can’t be comforting when your opponent gets to administer the election. According to a story by Carrie Ritchey for the Indy Star, Democratic challenger to Rep. Kathy Richardson is challenging her role as Hamilton County elections administrator.
[Joe] Weingarten doesn’t like that his opponent counts the ballots, and he’s concerned about the public’s perception of her dual role.
. . .
Weingarten is asking a special prosecutor to intervene because County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp contributed to Richardson’s re-election campaign.
I have spoken to people who have seen Ms. Richardson talking to people in line to vote, hugging them, pulling them out of line to have a private chat, then returning them to the voting line, and more.
This is a CANDIDATE, running her own election, and chatting up the voters in line. If it isn’t illegal, it should be. Where else but in a third-world dictatorship does an officerholder get to run their own election?
The real problem is that people like Kathy, she is personable, and she does Brian Bosma’s bidding willingly. Those two things make her bullet-proof in Hamilton County. She has been caught pretty much red-handed before in ghost employment (another state rep in a different county got fired from her county job for doing what Kathy did), but no one will touch her in Noblesville.
This BEGS for a full investigation and perhaps even a change in the law to prevent at least the appearance of corruption.
State law says that candidates cannot be empoloyees of the county election board. Believe it or not, the board is charged with running the election, not the clerk. The board can delegate certain authority to the clerk or to an employee by unanimous vote. The board has never authorized a vote of this sort. The clerk is without authority to designate any election duties to an employee not approved by the board. The board should seek a court order (an injunction) stopping the clerk and Kathy R. from performing duties not authorized by Indiana law. Kathy’s not a bad person, but she has no authority to act in this election. It is unconsionable to have a State Rep. drawing precinct boundaries, programming voting machines, and making decisions that only the board has authority to make.
Greg, you have no idea what you are talking about. If you even bothered to get to know Kathy, you’d know that she’s one of the most upright members of the Indiana House of Representatives.
The reason that she always gets reelected with a great percentage of the vote is not because she somehow “rigs the ballot”, as you seem to be suggesting. I have personally been with Kathy from 8 am until the counting is over during every primary and general election since 2004. She has never so much as thought of trying to offset the vote counts. I understand that, in Hamilton County, in order for a Democrat to win, they would have to come up with some devious “master plan” to steal votes, but it’s just not so for Kathy Richardson.
You very simplistically stated that she wins because “people like her”. Well, first of all, that is a tremendous understatement. I know Kathy Richardson–and her supporters–very well, and I think I’ve ascertained some of the reasons why she wins:
1. She is a native of this county and actually represents its interests. She maintains civic ties here, unlike many of her colleagues who get elected and then are never seen until the next election. She volunteers at every county fair, is very active in the Purdue Extension Board, works with the Noblesville Noon Kiwanis, and so many other civic activities that I don’t even think she could list them all.
2. She is honest, genuine, and non-political–she cares about people, whether or not they pull the R or D ticket on Election Day. She is genuinely interested in serving, not advancing herself.
3. The structural makeup of Hamilton County makes her all but unbeatable. We haven’t elected a Democrat to any office since the 1950’s, if I’m not mistaken, and it’s for a good reason–people in this county are business-creators or -supporters and understand that our government’s confiscatory tax policies are harmful to the American economic machine. Obviously, these people naturally caucus with Republicans, and, since Kathy is a Republican, she wins in a landslide every time.
4. The Democrats cannot match her wit, charm, humility, name recognition, or record of service. They will inevitably keep trying, but they will work in vain.
So, Greg, THAT is why Kathy wins. Not because she cheats.
Please remember that when you publish libel on the Internet, there are human consequences, and Kathy doesn’t deserve your incessant hounding. After the House ethics committee has cleared this issue EVERY TIME in the past decade that it has been brought up, you’d think that your side would just give it up. Guess not.
Appreciatively,
Justin D. Kingsolver
State Chairman | College Republicans of Indiana