[EL] More on case with 5-year sentence for double voting (from ELB News and Commentary 7/18/13)

Thu Jul 18 13:28:22 PDT 2013

I somehow edited out the name of "France" in describing its proxy voting
system. My apologies to the French!

In the meantime, I trust people will take a look at this case and the
sentence, especially with the context provided by Bill Collins.
Rob

On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 4:16 PM, Rob Richie <rr at fairvote.org> wrote:

> A friend of mine, Bill Collins of Cincinnati, sent me and email about the
> Ohio case involving a five-year prison term for voting on behalf of her
> sister in several recent elections despite her sister being in a coma.
>
> I'm no defender of voter fraud, but I question this sentence and the
> apparent behavior of the judge. Bill is copied on this message in case
> anyone has more questions about the case.
>
> As an aside, I'll note has a practice where many people delegate their
> vote to others to cast as a proxy. Voting by mail is not done in
> presidential elections (and only done for parliamentary elections for the
> first time last year), so someone away from home instead gives a formal
> letter to someone allowing them to cast their vote. Turnout in presidential
> races is more than 80%.  It just shows how norms can be different in
> different nations. They see absentee voting as potentially ripe with fraud,
> and I assume many Americans wouldn't like the idea of this voting-by-proxy.
>
> - Rob Richie
>
> #################
> From: Bill Collins <bcollins1 at cinci.rr.com>
> Date: Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:23 AM
>
> Good morning.  It is so sad to read about the sentencing of Madisonville
> resident Mae Richardson to a five-year prison term, and the outrageous,
> bullying, racism verbal attack on her by Judge Robert Ruehlman at the
> sentencing hearing. See
> http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130717/NEWS0107/307170089/Illegal-voter-gets-5-year-prison-term?gcheck=1
>
> I hope that individuals in Madisonville will speak out against Judge
> Ruehlman's sentence of Mae and the judge's outrageous behavior in court
> yesterday.  Below are the comments I just posted on
> http://www.cincinnati.com.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Bill Collins
> Phone: (513) 271-4425
> - - - - -
>
> This long sentence for Mae Richardson is an outrage.
>
> I know Mae. She is a likeable but prickly and difficult personality. She
> is an eccentric person, for sure, and her bizarre statement yesterday at
> the court sentencing clearly shows that. It's obvious that Mae needs
> professional help.
>
> Judge Ruehlman's mocking treatment of her, in response, was an outrage.
> After all those years on the bench, doesn't Judge Ruehlman recognize mental
> illness? Is he THAT dense as to not see the evidence of mental illness
> standing before him at the bench?
>
> - - - - - - -
> Anybody who knows and observes Mae closely knows that she is a black woman
> who needs psychiatric help, and does not need a bullying, self-righteous
> lecture by a white judge from the bench at the time that he is sending her
> off to jail for five years. The judge has the power; Mae has no power. The
> judge's trashing Mae from the bench as he sends her to jail for five years
> is the worst kind of bullying, and yes the worst kind of state-sanctioned
> racism.
>
> What Mae needs, and has needed for a long time, is some good mental-health
> services. Sending her to a regular prison with other female inmates will
> make her condition worse. PLEASE. The courts system needs to stop this
> outrage, sentence Mae to an appropriate sentence and get her some
> mental-health services. I hope for the best, but fear that the system -- if
> left unchecked -- will destroy Mae Richardson.
>
> This is an OUTRAGE! The American people are not cruel people. Melowese
> (Mae) Richardson deserves better and we deserve better than this sort of
> state-sanctioned bullying, cruelty and racism meted out by Hamilton County
> Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman.
>
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 11:46 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:
>
>>   Melowese Richardson Gets Five Year Term for Illegal Voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=53138>
>> Posted on July 18, 2013 8:28 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=53138> by Rick
>> Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> See here<http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201307171724/NEWS0107/307170089&nclick_check=1>.
>> This is a significant sentence for some serious misconduct, including
>> voting her sister’s vote, who has been in a coma since 2003.  Although the
>> poll worker accepted a plea deal, she was unrepentant:
>>
>> “I think the board has shown me nothing but total disrespect for the 30
>> years I’ve served them,” she told the judge. “I believe in the system and
>> I’ve done nothing to harm the system or cause disgrace to President Obama.”
>>
>> The conservative, outspoken judge responded with scathing comments,
>> blasting Richardson for suggesting she was being prosecuted because she was
>> a black Democrat helping a black Democratic presidential candidate.
>>
>> “It has nothing to do with race. It has nothing to do with politics. It
>> has nothing to do with disrespecting you. You did this to yourself,”
>> Ruehlman told her.
>>
>> “You’re very selfish, self-centered. I really believe President Obama, if
>> he were asked about this today, he would be appalled. He would not want
>> anybody to cheat to get elected.”
>>
>>
>>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "Respect for Every Vote and Every Voice"
>
> Rob Richie
> Executive Director
>
> FairVote
> 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
> Takoma Park, MD 20912
> www.fairvote.org  <http://www.fairvote.org> rr at fairvote.org
> (301) 270-4616
>
> Please support FairVote through action and tax-deductible donations -- see
> http://fairvote.org/donate. For federal employees, please consider  a
> gift to us through the Combined Federal Campaign (FairVote's  CFC number is
> 10132.) Thank you!
>

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Respect for Every Vote and Every Voice"

Rob Richie
Executive Director

FairVote
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
www.fairvote.org  <http://www.fairvote.org> rr at fairvote.org
(301) 270-4616

Please support FairVote through action and tax-deductible donations -- see
http://fairvote.org/donate. For federal employees, please consider  a gift
to us through the Combined Federal Campaign (FairVote's  CFC number is
10132.) Thank you!
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