Report on the first Democracy Defense League statewide meeting

 

Members of Democracy Defense League, a group formed four years ago in Hale County to combat voter fraud, had their first statewide meeting in Montgomery April 1. The meeting, which included Alabama Attorney General Troy King and Secretary of State Beth Chapman as guest speakers, was held at the State Capitol building.

 “What we need to do is unite everyone to make sure we have honest elections,” Chapman told the crowd, which included members from all over Alabama. “…It does not matter what side of the aisle we sit on.”

Also in the audience were students from Hale County High School, Southern Academy, and Sunshine School. Members and students boarded three charter buses in Hale and Perry counties Tuesday morning to take them to the meeting.

Chapman described DDL members as “the epitome of the average Alabamian. They have pulled everyone together, and in Alabama that doesn’t always happen.”

As Secretary of State, Chapman is Alabama’s highest-ranking election official. She expressed her support of a photo identification requirement for both absentee and in-person voting, saying the measure would help prevent voter fraud.

“You can bring your bank statement, your power bill, your water bill, your hunting license,” Chapman said of the many documents that currently suffice as voter identification in Alabama. “And unless the poll workers know every single voter personally, there’s no way of truly identifying them.”

Attorney General Troy King, whose office has been investigating allegations of voter fraud in Hale County since 2005, gave DDL members credit for alerting his office to the need for investigation, as well as for its continued progress.

“Much of what will happen…in the cleaning up of Hale County’s election is out of my hands and in the hands of the people of Hale County,” King said. “Nobody can clean up a county’s elections for that county.”

King praised the work of members, saying, “Alabama is a better place because of your efforts.”

Since King began his investigation into Hale County elections, his office’s work has resulted in three indictments of Hale citizens suspected of voter fraud: Rosie Lyles, former Greensboro City Councilwoman Valada Paige-Banks, and former Hale County Circuit Clerk Gay Nell Tinker.

“We look forward to these trials,” King continued. He also noted the recent decision of the Alabama Court of Appeals ordering Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins, Tinker’s brother, to recuse himself from the investigation.

“This investigation began almost four years ago,” King said. “We were subjected to deception, deceit, and intimidation.”

Tinker attempted to have one of King’s investigators jailed for harassment early in the investigation. Later during the proceedings, King says Wiggins hobbled the investigation by quashing subpoenas and protecting members of his family.

“Justice, it seems, may finally be within our grasp,” King said. “I dream of a day when this organization can disband because our elections are fair and honest.”

King said his office would continue to investigate allegations of voter fraud throughout the state.

“We must relentlessly pursue those who commit voter fraud,” he said. “We must signal to all that aid and abet and advance this corruption that we’re after them. “

Marion resident Cynthia Davis was scheduled to speak at the event. She was late arriving to the meeting, but shared her story with reporters later. The event occurred in May 2005, during a special election for Alabama House of Representatives, District 72 between Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner and Ralph Howard.

When she was a student at Francis Marion High School, Davis says an announcement came over the intercom asking all students of voting age to report to the school lunchroom.

“Maxine Coley, principal of the school, and Albert Turner were in the lunchroom separating us by what district we lived in,” Davis said. “Then Albert Turner took us to the polls at the old National Guard Armory in his own personal SUV.”

Davis said she was met at the polls by a woman who escorted her to the voting table, then watched as she marked her ballot for Howard.

“She told me I couldn’t vote for Ralph Howard, I had to vote for Albert Turner because he was the one who brought me there,” Davis said.

According to Davis, the woman marked Turner’s name on the ballot, then handed it to a polling official saying it was a spoiled ballot. “Then she marked my ballot for Mr. Turner and put it in the machine.”

Davis said she reported the event first to the Sheriff’s Department, where officers told her it was a city matter. Marion Police Department then took an incident report from Davis, recording the incident as a theft of property.

“Afterwards, Albert Turner got on the radio and said I was lying, and if I didn’t quit I was going to turn up missing,” said Davis. “I was the one trying to exercise my Constitutional rights.”

Davis said she has been subject to harassment since the incident, “just because I wanted to speak up about my rights. I’m still telling my story to everyone that can hear because I want something done about it.”

Carolyn Payne, DDL co-chair, said the organization had grown from about 100 members in 2004 to over 1790 at present, with members in 43 of Alabama’s 67 counties.

“Our goal is to add as many names as we can possibly get,” she continued. “The only requirement is that you must be a registered voter in Alabama. We don’t even ask you for money.”

While the highest-profile voter fraud investigation has been centered in Hale County, Payne said, it is important for residents in other parts of Alabama to recognize the problem as well.

“We have been all over the state of Alabama,” she said, “and everywhere we go, people tell us, ‘we have some of the same things happening here.’ Hale County does not have the monopoly on voter fraud.”

Payne went on to note the problem voter fraud has posed in Alabama for many years.

“Voter fraud has been on the books in Alabama since 1901,” she said, taking legislators to task for not toughening voter fraud laws. “They have the power – they have been given the responsibility. They make our laws…if we elected them into office, they should be accountable to us.”

In addition to the establishment of a photo identification requirement for both in-person and absentee voting, DDL has also supported legislation to increase the penalty for voter fraud to a Class A felony.

“The vote should be held in high esteem,” Payne said. “Today our voice has been taken because we have allowed it.”