Henley on DA's conclusions: 'Someone missed the boat'

Gardenia Henley, a former NC House candidate and retired State Department auditor who has investigated voter fraud in Forsyth County, offers a formal response to a reported finding by the State Bureau of Investigation that there was no widespread fraud in an incident in which a woman was caught voting twice:

Who determined the scope of this investigation? I would like to review the SBI's findings and recommendations. Someone missed the boat on this one.

In this case, it did not matter if this was "an isolated incident or a wider case of voter fraud," it was an illegal act either way. This particular case should be dealt with and investigated properly. Candidates accompanied this individual while voting several times. This part of the voter fraud issue and investigation must be dealt with.

The individuals who voted more than once could very well plead ignorant to the law, but the 3 individuals (Jimmie Bonham, Everette Witherspoon and Susan Frye) who accompanied and assisted this voter to vote more than once cannot by any stretch of the imagination. We need to set an example for the rest of the counties in the state of North Carolina.

In this case, the consequences of committing a federal offense should be dealt with, whether it was one person or a thousand people violating the law. I believe that state officials know that if they prosecute this individual, she will sing like a hummingbird and will verify what I have been saying all along.

To conclude that "this was not a widespread case of voter fraud" indirectly confirms that there was, in fact, a finding of voter fraud, that must be properly dealt with.

Jim O'Neill is another person who should not be investigating [Forsyth County Board of Elections]. I have identified him as another person who is in conflict with the elected officials who helped this woman vote more than once. He as well as others, including Frank Dickerson, have helped to finance the alliance members' campaign who were helping this woman vote and other vote more than once. I can prove it.

Details of the allegations of voter fraud can be found in Henley's report, available on her blog.