Dr. Cole was not a bona fide resident of the 10th District that elected him to the Alabama State House of Representatives, committing voter fraud.
He's resigning and pleading guilty to a felony.
Physician, heal thyself.
Republicans will apparently do and say anything in the wake of DONALD JOHN TRUMP.
Sound familiar?
In St. Johns County, ethically-impaired Republican politicians too often don't let election laws get in the way of their overbearing desire to get elected and re-elected, so they can support regressive GQP policies.
- We had a State Senator from St. Johns County who did not live here, but instead used a beach condo as his voting address. JOHN THRASHER later became President of FSU.
- We had a dodgy St. Augustine Mayor candidate, former County Commissioner WILLIAM ANTHONY McCLURE, who did not live in the City -- a political tourist renting a room at 105 Marine Street. McCLURE spent $31 a vote and lost to Mayor Nancy Shaver, who handily defeated him. (Our City later amended its charter to require a one year durational residency requirement).
- We have a current St. Johns County Commission 3rd District Commissioner, appointed by Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS, whose apparently lives in District 5. Commissioner ROY ALAIMO, JR. never answered my questions about his residence. ALAIMO's County webpage says that he, his wife Jennifer and their two children "live in St. Augustine."
From Al.com:
David Cole resigns seat in Alabama House after arrest on illegal voting charge
- Published: Aug. 31, 2023, 2:49 p.m.
David Cole of Madison County has resigned his seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.
Documents filed in court indicate Cole intends to plead guilty to knowingly voting in a place where he was not authorized to vote, Alabama House District 10.
Rob Green, communications director for House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, said the speaker’s office received the letter of resignation Thursday.
Cole was arrested Tuesday on a felony charge of voting in an unauthorized place.
Cole, a Republican, was elected in November to represent District 10 but his election opponents claimed he did not meet the requirement to live in the district for at least a year.
“I regretfully must tender my resignation to serve as the district 10 representative for the Alabama House of Representatives, effective on the date of this memorandum,” Cole wrote in the one-sentence letter to the speaker’s office, dated Aug. 30.
Cole’s attorney, William Espy, issued a statement Thursday.
“Dr. Cole admits and takes full responsibility for the mistakes he made in the political process,” Espy said. “He entered the process to serve his community. He has lived a life of service including serving for 22 years in the Army with tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt. The Cole family appreciates all the prayer and support from his friends and community during this time. Dr. Cole will continue to serve his community going forward.”
Cole was elected to the Legislature in November, representing District 10. But AL.com’s Kyle Whitmire reported in July that Cole lived in District 4.
Cole’s primary opponent Anson Knowles complained to Alabama Republican Party officials that Cole had not resided in the district for a year prior to the election, as required by state law. The party left Cole on the ballot, but removed Knowles for having been involved with the Libertarian Party.
In the general election, Cole defeated Democrat Marilyn Lands and Libertarian Elijah Boyd to win the seat. Boyd later contested Cole’s victory in court.
Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office is prosecuting the illegal voting case against Cole.
On Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Kyle Beckman filed an information document in court saying that Cole knowingly voted in House District 10 in the general election last November even though he was not authorized to vote there, a violation of Code of Alabama 17-17-28, which is a Class C felony. Class C felonies carry sentences of 1 to 10 years and fines of up to $15,000.
A plea agreement filed Thursday afternoon and signed by Cole, his attorney, and Beckman, said the parties agreed that Cole would resign his House seat. The parties recommend to the court that Cole receive a three-year sentence, of which he would serve 60 days in the Madison County jail and the remainder on unsupervised probation. Online records in the case show a court date of Sept. 20.
The plea agreement spells out the evidence the state would offer if the case went to trial.
It says Cole decided in summer of 2021 to run for the District 10 seat in the House of Representatives. But a redistricting plan approved by the Legislature moved Cole’s home into District 4.
In November 2021, Cole signed a lease with a third party identified as “H.S.” who lived in District 10 to rent part of his home. The terms of the lease were $5 a month for a “5 by 5″ area. Cole changed his voter registration to that address but never made an attempt to move to that address and had only been to the “H.S.” home twice, the plea agreement says.
Cole used the “H.S.” 10 address to qualify with the Republican Party to run for the District 10 seat. In response to a Republican Party challenge to his residency for the election, Cole told a Republican Party official that he had sold his house in District 4 and was living in District 10 on a lease because the purchase of another home had fallen through.
Cole used the “H.S” address to vote absentee in the May 2022 primary and to vote in-person in the June 2022 runoff, the plea agreement says. In response to media questions, he gave an altered copy of his lease with “H.S.” to his campaign manager that said he was renting a house instead of a “5x5″ area.
In October 2022, Cole changed the address in his voter registration to an apartment and used that address to vote in the November 2022 general election. But the plea agreement said Cole was not authorized to do that because he had filed a property tax exemption document stating he lived at his home in District 4.
1 comment:
All the fraud came from conservatives and Republicans. Even the accusations that others were committing fraud were a fraud. All this to sabotage and obstruct government and undermine democracy in the USA. The GOP is a fraud.
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