Three Arkansas Democrats and a police officer pleaded guilty to absentee voter fraud on Wednesday as Democrats across the country insist Voter ID laws are not necessary.
State Representative Hudson Hallum (pictured above), his father Kent, West Memphis City Councilman Phillip Wayne Carter, and West Memphis Police Officer Sam Malone pleaded guilty to bribing voters for their absentee ballots for a local election in 2011.
“The most fundamental rights we enjoy as American citizens include the ability to vote and, if we so choose, to run for elected office,” Jane Duke, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas said in a statement. “In a nation in which every person’s vote matters, protecting the integrity of the electoral process from those who seek to win office by cheating the system is critical.
“Voter fraud schemes such as that carried out in the 2011 District 54 race have the devastating effect of eroding public confidence in elected officials and disenfranchising voters.”
The four men filled out absentee ballots for voters and bribed others with money and food.
Hallum wrote an e-mail to Arkansas legislators to apologize for his actions.
“This afternoon I am going to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from an investigation into my special election,” Hallum wrote. “I took some bad advice that led to some bad decisions on my part.”
Hallum said he wrote the e-mail “with deep regret.”
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