Citizens Speak

Update on the saga with Mike Clampitt, Fetzer, and The North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Mr. Fetzer:
Just after the meeting with the NCBOE I had email communication with Jonathan Camp with an ABC affiliate whom had video recorded this meeting, of which you were included. I had requested raw copy footage of the meeting and Mr. Camp informed me that it would take a subponea to obtain that. In my response back to him, I then requested your office to please initiate the process so that we may have a true account of what transpired at the NCBOE meeting, as, to what response I have had back is exactly what I expected. Again, I kindly ask you, as State Chairman to the North Carolina Republican Party instruct Mr. Peck, our legal representative, to proceed with the process to obtain this information. In a campaign that we have in this mid-year cycle it is most important that voters know their vote "is important", and the information contained on this video could be used to show the corruption at its highest level in the voting system in North Carolina. I greatly appreciate your assistance in advance.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Clampitt

------------ Forwarded message ------------
From: Wright, Don<don.wright@ncsbe.gov>
Date: Jul 16, 2010
Subject: RE: CHAIRMAN LEAK'S PROMISED LETTER
To: Mike Clampitt <resoqxfi@verizon.net>

Dear Mr. Clampitt,

The Chairman has yet to sign the order on your case and all other cases (except for one) heard June 23. As you were informed, you will be given a signed order as soon as it is signed. Also as soon as the minutes of that meeting are ready, that will be sent to you as well.

Don Wright

From:Mike Clampitt [mailto:resoqxfi@verizon.net]
Sent:Friday, July 16, 2010 9:13 AM
To: gary.bartlett@ncmail.net; don.wright@ncmail.net
Cc: cwilson@thesmokymountaintimes.com; becky@smokymountainnews.com; editor@grahamstar.com; editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com; newsmanager@foxnews.com; fetzer@ncgop.org; jboyle@ashevill.gannett.com; john@tribunepapers.com; Jonathan.camp; shaw@ncgop.org; peck@ncgop.org
Subject: CHAIRMAN LEAK'S PROMISED LETTER
Importance: High

Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Wright,
Please advise on the status of my request made to the NCBOE chairman Leak at the June 2010 meeting of "the order" that he said would be sent out. If you remember before the close of thje meeting, I "made a humble request, of getting someting in writing". Mr. Leak assured me that would happen. It has now been several weeks since that meeting and to date have no letter.
On another note, Mr. Wright advied in an email that there was no court reporter taking dictation and therefore was no transcript of the meeting. May I ask if there were minutes kept of the meeting? or, is there a general account of the meeting? or, is there an audio/ mechanical recording of the meeting? In any event, may I ask for a copy of whatever is available of the meeting. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Clampitt
POB 2000
Bryson City, NC 28713
828-736-6222

posted on July 17, 2010

Clampitt said.Swain County Board of Elections caught RED Handed violating the law. WLOS and WWNC refuse to cover.

Hearing in Raleigh Wednesday June 23, 2010!!! Will anyone cover that meeting???

Smokey Mountain News 6-2-10

Thanks to the Smokey Mountain News for caring.

An election watchdog in Swain County is protesting the tallying of early votes before the close of polls on Election Day, claiming it could have given some candidates an unfair advantage if those results be leaked.

The results from early voting are often an indication of who�s winning and losing. In the 2008 general election, some mountain counties saw nearly 50 percent of those who cast ballots do so during the two-week early voting period.

While state law allows election officials to get a jumpstart by tabulating the results from early voting during the afternoon of Election Day, Mike Clampitt of Swain County thinks it leaves too much room for corruption.

The results from early voting can�t be announced until after the polls close. But it is technically OK for those on the board of elections to call a few friends, party officials or even select candidates and share the results that afternoon.

�I would prefer they not talk about it outside the board office, but that is not publicizing or publishing the results,� said Johnnie McLean, deputy director of the N.C. Board of Elections in Raleigh.

Sharing the results indiscriminately with the public, such as releasing them to the media or posting them on the wall in the elections office, would be illegal. But a single phone call to a particular candidate to tell them how they fared is not illegal, McLean said. Besides, McLean doesn�t see what a candidate could do with that knowledge in just a few short hours.

�About the only thing they could do would be contact their supporters and ensure that they have gone to vote,� Mclean said.

Precisely, Clampitt countered.

Clampitt said there are still three to four hours left to drum up voters for your candidate once early votes have been tabulated. In a small county, where elections can easily be decided by less than 100 votes, that knowledge could make a difference.

Clampitt has filed a formal complaint over the tallying of early votes in Swain County, although the process is similar to that used in other counties and conforms with state law.

The counting of ballots, including early voting ballots, is a public process and can�t be done behind closed doors. Per state election law, any member of the public is allowed to witness the process. Technically, those present could overhear election officials talking about the results as they are printed out, or even catch a glimpse.

In Haywood County, Election Director Robert Inman said he would be disappointed if election officials tabulating results shared them outside the office. They don�t give verbal cues that would reveal results to those present as observers. In fact, they make a point of not even studying the tallies as they are printed out, according to Inman.

�We do all we can to not see them,� said Inman. �We do our utmost not to know.�

It is difficult to do, however.

�There is no way you can count without knowing the totals,� said Lisa Lovedahl, director of the Jackson County Board of Elections. �The board members are human.�

The human factor also makes it impossible to guarantee that the results stay within the four walls of the election office.

Clampitt witnessed the counting of early votes in Swain County and says election officials mulled over the results, as would most people in the same position.

�If a person has access to something, don�t you think they are going to do it? That is just human nature,� Clampitt said.

Clampitt also found a dead person voting and that was said to be a computer problem and so was Bev not filling here reports. How many computer problems do we have in NC. Back a couple of election cycles the problem was absentee ballots in Madison County being Mailed to Buncombe County. Also in Buncombe County we had several reported incidents of the Buncombe County School System actually putting political informaton in the school mail. That is a no no too but nothing was done about it either. Will the Republican Party step up to the plate about fair elections. Will the Democrats also step up to the plate for the same thing. Now how about the UNA's and Independents and Constitutionals coming on up and monitoring what is suppose to be done. It is our elections.

Don Yelton, Need proof contact me or Mike and you will see it.

June 19, 2010

Corruption


Reps. back out of tea party event By: Kenneth P. Vogel January 28, 2010 11:53 AM EST
In another sign that controversy is taking a toll on next week�s National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., two of its top attractions � Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) � have decided to opt out of their prior plans to speak at the event. The high-profile blows to the convention come as several sponsors have backed out and organizers are struggling to sell tickets to Sarah Palin�s keynote address amid controversy about the convention�s unusual finances. As first reported by POLITICO, the convention is being run by a for-profit Tennessee corporation called Tea Party Nation, registered to a little-known Tennessee lawyer whose efforts to position himself as a national tea party leader have put him at odds with some state tea party activists. The lawyer, Judson Phillips, intended to turn a profit from the convention, with the stated goal of seeding a so-called 527 group that would air ads praising conservative candidates or criticizing their opponents, though he now concedes he�s hoping just to break even and has tabled the 527 idea. Blackburn and Bachmann, tea party favorites along with Palin, cited the financing arrangement in announcing Thursday that they were pulling out. Blackburn's office in a statement asserted that the House ethics committee advised her �not to participate in the event due to uncertainty about how any proceeds from the event may be used. Convention organizers have not been clear about how those funds will be put to use. We have every indication that any profit could be put to work to advance grass-roots causes, and some of those uses could make the congressman�s participation improper after the fact.� Blackburn said she spoke with Phillips Thursday morning �and let him know that I could not participate in the convention. I told him frankly that Tea Party Nation�s for-profit status has put many of his speakers in an awkward position.� Bachmann�s office also cited the convention finances as the reason for the decision not to speak. �There is uncertainty about how any proceeds from the event may be used,� Bachmann spokesman Dave Dziok told POLITICO in a statement, �and we must err on the side of caution.� Dziok said Bachmann remains supportive of the movement. �Some will want to portray her withdrawal as a repudiation of the Tea Party Movement, but that couldn�t be further from the truth. Congresswoman Bachmann remains encouraged by all Americans, regardless of political party, who are concerned about this nation�s future and dwindling prosperity, and continues to be inspired their passion.� But Palin, who is being paid a $100,000 fee to speak at the convention, in a statement to POLITICO on Tuesday night said she remained committed to the event. "This is about the people � the grass-roots' activists whose core values demand a responsible government,� she said. �This is not about politics or organizers, it is about the soul of our blessed country.� She added that �any speaker's fee will be contributed to the cause, and I will not be personally gaining from this." The only way Palin could donate her fee to conservative groups that get involved in federal elections would be to make dozens of $2,400 or $5,000 maximum contributions to candidates and political action committees, respectively. (She could make larger contributions to 527 groups, but those are barred from directly supporting or opposing candidacies.)
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