Bacon's Rebellion

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More Great Moments in Virginia Governance: Election Fraud File

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by

James A. Bacon
in ,

Waverly Mayor Walter Mason

Election irregularities in Virginia? No way. They never happen.

Except when they do.

A grand jury has indicted Walter Mason, mayor of the town of Waverly in Sussex County of a dozen felony charges of election fraud. Virginia Lawyers Weekly reports that Mason was accused of making false statements on absentee ballots and trying to help others violate absentee voting procedures in connection with his March 2016 election victory.

Michele Kathleen Brumfield (left) and James Hunter Higginbottom

Meanwhile, in central Virginia, two Altavista town council members, Michele Kathleen Brumfield and James Hunter Higginbottom, have been charged with prohibited activity at the polls, reports the News & Advance.

The newspaper did not spell out the exact nature of the activities. A copy of the state code section that lists prohibited activities at election polls can be viewed here.

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11 responses to “More Great Moments in Virginia Governance: Election Fraud File”

  1. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    So, the big fu$#@!g deal here is that three people have been indicted for some kind of election fraud and we don’t know exactly what for for two of them?

    In the Baconist mind, does this mean “massive” voter fraud? I hope you have alerted the right wing echo chamber.

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    there is a rancid viewpoint these days about govt… that govt is more susceptible to waste, fraud, malfeasance , etc and therefore the less of it the better. so we have flocks of people now that see their mission as doing whatever they can to further point out the failings of govt and then advocate for it to be weakened or dismantled… etc..

    and when you mention that the private sector also has it’s share of miscreants who will also commit fraud and waste.. etc… the come back is “yeah but we have rule of law” so people can get justice through the courts….
    which also just happen to be government – and now with the POTUS and his merry band of anti-govt zealots.. say that judges and the courts are “bad” and “crooked” .. also…

    the net result of the last few years has been a steady and persistent undermining of not only govt institutions but other institutions like Science and Higher Ed..

    I’m not sure what people want and expect instead.. and it’s not like we’ve never seen crooks and worse in govt .. for all of our history… it’s standard practice…

  3. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    I don’t know Larry but I hate to read the morning newspapers. This morning, The Post had a massive section on what the Trump budget would do. Good bye Chesapeake Bay. Hello fence and high performance jet fighters!

    Where is Bacon on all this? You raise it and he slinks off into the weeds like some sly, guilty reptile.

  4. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    https://www.baconsrebellion.com-content/uploads/2017/03/reptile.jpg

    Reptile — that’s me! But a guilty reptile? Never!

  5. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    So, Larry, is this your logic now? Fraud in government is Business As Usual, therefore, there’s nothing to see here, move along now!

    Peter, you are a master of misdirection — change the discussion to a different topic. Preferably Donald Trump!

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Nope. I do not defend it at all – I point out that it’s been present with us both govt and private sector since time began but now it’s being used to claim that because it does exist – that govt itself is can no longer be trusted.. not only govt but other institutions…

      https://cdn.underground.net/wp-content/uploads/20151123_Trust_Fo_22.jpg

      1. James A. Bacon Avatar
        James A. Bacon

        The decline in trust in government is based on a whole lot more than some penny-ante election antics in Virginia. I highlight these indictments — as I have highlighted indictments of other government officials in the past — not to discredit government generally but to inspire Virginians to clean it up.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          I’ submit the decline is mostly do to commentary….. with a whole lot more commentators with the advent of the internet …

          we don’t have any more “bad” govt than before or if we do, I’d like to
          see some data…

          but now everybody and their DOG gets into the act and YES. THERE IS a purposeful effort these days to damage the govt – to undermine it and to advocate for dismantling it.

          We’re watching this right now… “so-called” judges, the “deep state”, people “wiretapping” the POTUS… and a whole lot MORE – that’s just the tip of the iceberg!!! Over and over we see attacks on UVA/higher ED, .. on public K12 schools… on health care… on Science..itself..

          there are LOTS of polls to show this…

  6. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    more…

    http://spotlight.ipsos-na.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Confidence-in-institution-trend-73-14.jpg

  7. V N Avatar
    V N

    I’d have to agree with the Baconator here. Government is earning its mistrust by the lack of openness. I’ve had my share of drama from the HHS/OCR (or lack of civil rights that get tossed on the whim of any employee), the city of Chesapeake, including the school board, and the Governor.
    Council for Gov. McAuliffe didn’t even acknowledge a FOIA request. Mr. Carlos Hopkins, Council for the Gov. and on his Cabinet, when a high level guy like that doesn’t even bother to answer, it speaks volumes on the lack of transparency and again, the mistrust is earned.

    That includes stopping any signed for mails to the Govenors’ office at the post office.

  8. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    You can disagree with Govt without working to undermine it’s legitimacy as a governing institution – to return the country to the kind of chaos we see in 3rd world countries.

    there is a difference in how to correct rather than destroy.

    Is govt today – any less transparent than in the past?

    I’d argue that even though it’s not as transparent as we want it – that it’s probably BETTER than in the past.

    And the CURE for it not being what we want – is to work to change it – NOT to work to dismantle it…

    this is the idiocy that is now running amok among some folks… it makes no sense.. it’s like burning down your own house because it “betrayed” you by having a leaking roof… or whatever.

    I look at , for instance, the complaints about public education – where the critics are actually using to govts own created and required transparency and accountability rules to claim that public education has “failed” and that we should now divert tax dollars for non-public schools – and of course NO transparency and accountability rules for them – because ipso facto – if they are not public they will be “ok” and oh by the way no standards either.

    this is the kind of stuff we are seeing these days. It’s pathological.

    don’t like the CPP? no problem.. just shut down and get rid of much of the EPA…kill the Chesapeake Bay cleanup!

    don’t like healthcare? no problem.. just repeal it.. with no idea what to replace it with. No matter.. killing it first is the priority then later on we’ll figure out what to do.

    this is actually what people are voting for these days.. this is what they want!

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