Could justice finally be coming to the perpetrators of the most insidious political scandal we’ve ever covered? Not likely … although for the first time since this deal went down, some long overdue scrutiny is being applied to one of its critical components.
We’re referring of course to the “Richland County Robbery” – a $1.2 billion theft perpetrated on the people of Richland County, S.C. via a rigged election last November. This heist has already been upheld by the S.C. Supreme Court – without comment. Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) is refusing to investigate it despite irrefutable evidence attesting to the flagrant illegality of the vote.
Also the tax increase that passed as a result of this rigged vote is being collected already.
So it’s a done deal, right? Right …
However one component of the robbery – the legislative takeover of the local election commission that precipitated it – is receiving a long-overdue challenge.
First, some background: After county residents narrowly rejected this tax hike in 2010, liberal Republican and Democratic leaders of the local legislative delegation decided enough was enough. With the approval of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, they passed a law seizing control of the local election commission and installed their hand-picked puppet as its leader.
This puppet proceeded to rig the election – targeting excessive shortages of voting machines in county precincts that voted against the tax hike two years earlier (possibly working in direct coordination with her intimate relations in the pro-tax movement).
These election machine shortages – which flagrantly violated state law – produced wait times of up to seven hours in staunchly anti-tax districts, which resulted in widespread suppression of the anti-tax vote.
The result? A narrow “victory” for the tax hike – and a new job and a lifetime pension for the puppet.
But was the legislative takeover which led to this sorry progression of events legal?
One judge says “no.”
Earlier this week, S.C. Circuit Court judge G. Thomas Cooper ruled that Act 17 of 2011 – a.k.a. the legislative takeover – was unconstitutional.
FITS is endeavoring to obtain a copy of Cooper’s ruling, but it represents the first real shot across the bow of the leaders who pulled off this theft – which we maintain is one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice South Carolina has ever seen.
Let’s hope more South Carolina officials in all branches of government start showing Cooper’s courage.
Agree or disagree with this tax hike – an election was stolen to pass it. And we cannot allow that to go unchallenged.
UPDATE: Here is Cooper’s ruling …
16 comments
Sic, follow this closely and keep us posted. Be a thorn in their side.
LOL……do you know how to get a thief out of office…..run a thief against him..!!
Wow…election shenanigans and voter suppression by Republicans…sounds like a familiar story, but with a hint of selective outrage.
So from “liberal Republican and Democratic leaders of the local legislative delegation decided…” you got that this was somehow a uniquely Republican scandal? How blinded by partisanship do you have to be to ignore all the Democratic names in Sic’s coverage of this scandal and only see the R’s?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbS2KSRUVHo
Don’t misunderstand me. I oppose ALL electoral shenanigans or voter suppression — not just those cases that impact an issue of concern to Republicans. In a true democratic republic, voting should be virtually universal and uncomplicated — unless certain elements fear the way citizens will vote. Isn’t that the point of the above?
I understand you completely. I think you are the one who does not see how odd it is that you are obsessed with finding a Republican angle, which was the obvious point of what you posted, to a depressingly bipartisan scandal.
Sic and his Repub allies are outraged over this Richland County incident. They are not so vocal about other cases of voter suppression when those suppressed are not potential Repub voters. I think everyone should vote, all the time, without interference, without restricted hours or a reduced number of voting machines and without obstructive (or outright phony) ID requirements. Let’s hear the People’s voices on all pertinent issues!
I remember certain Republicans blowing off stories about people in majority-black precincts having to wait in long lines for hours to vote. “So what,” they said, “it shouldn’t be too easy to vote! It should take some effort to vote!”
Funny how their tune changed when white folks were made to wait in long lines. I agree what happened in Richland County was a disgrace and should never be allowed to happen again, but I believe to the bottom of my soul that when it does happen again, and mostly black people are affected, Republicans including Folks here will be back to lecturing us on how it’s just too easy to vote.
I don’t even live in Richland anymore, but dammit I am still fired up about this! Glad you’re staying on it.
I think its about time for a ruling that its unconstitutional to make white Republicans stand in line to vote. They have important things to do, and cannot be reasonably expected to wait. We need a busy white Republican line at the voting booths.
I think people would probably be happy if the government followed the law that was already in place by providing enough machines to reduce the 4,6, or 8 hour wait times down to around a hour or so.
It has the nice effect of helping everyone, not just Republicans.
However, if you are jobless I supposed a 4-8 hour wait is no big deal, so I can understand if that’s the perspective you are arguing from.
Yea, that’s the angle I was going for. If Richland County is running short on machines they need to do what other districts do and pull voting machines out of the minority districts where the voter’s time is less critical.
Well the natural question would be, “Why are they running short on machines?”.
Of course, we know they had functional machines sitting in warehouses…so that’s the fly in the ointment aside from which racial group was waiting the longest to vote.
That’s all aside from the fact that the election wasn’t legal by current law because of the machine shortage.
It was local legislation, which is unconstitutional, but goes on all the time.
Won’t be upheld.
Jean Toal has already ruled on this travesty and it’s over. The has swept it under the rug for the thug Democrats running the City of Columbia. Judge Cooper can rule all he wants, but ultimately, this will back to Toal and she is put it away in favor of the crooks.
Vinny Sheheen supports Toal and this type judiciary. Bad as Haley might be, remember this fact.
Get a certified copy of the court reporter transcripts and the court order. Both, under common law and the FOIA are mandated to be fully available (and in un-redacted form) to any member of the public. If the entities who have custody and control over these records refuse to release or even delay the same, we can proceed with criminal arrest warrants.
Time to clean this corrupt government up and send the criminals within the same to jail.