The Williamson County Election Commission has referred materials related to an investigation into a report that seemed to show at least two Democrats – both of whom are currently running for elected office – voted in the Republican primary to the District Attorney for further investigation and possible prosecution.
State law requires that in order to vote in a party primary, the voter must be a “bona fide member” of that party or “declare allegiance to the political party.”
“It is unlikely that a current Democratic candidate for office would meet either of those requirements,” the Williamson Country Republican Party said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
The Party’s Chair, Debbie Deaver added, “It appears likely two Democratic candidates for office have committed voter fraud, so I’m pleased to see the Election Commission refer this very serious matter to the District Attorney’s office.”
The statement continues:
Since the beginning of early voting through Tuesday, April 24, 2018, a total of 651 people who voted in the March 2016 Democratic presidential preference primary have cast early voting ballots in the current May 2018 Williamson County primary elections. Of those 651 people who voted in the 2016 Democratic primary, 344 of them voted in this year’s Republican primary, while only 307 of them voted in this year’s Democratic primary.
TCA 2-7-115(b) states that a registered voter is entitled to vote in a primary election for offices for which the voter is qualified to vote at the polling place where the voter is registered if:
(1) Â The voter is a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote; or
(2) Â At the time the voter seeks to vote, the voter declares allegiance to the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote and states that the voter intends to affiliate with that party.
As previously reported by The Tennessee Star:
Bill Peach (pictured, right) has run previously for the State House as a Democrat against Jeremy Durham and failed to get 30% of the vote in 2014. He is a candidate again, running for the Democratic Party nomination to oppose Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin) in the 61st House District in November. Last week he voted in the Republican Primary for the May 1 county elections.
Anne McGraw (pictured, middle) is also a Democratic Party candidate and is on the ballot for the May 1 primary election for the office of County Commission. However, like Peach, she voted in the Republican primary last week – choosing to not even vote in the Democratic Primary for herself.
“It’s disingenuous to allow someone to select a candidate for a party they don’t identify with and who they will not vote for in the general election,” Deaver said. “Just like Alabama doesn’t let Tennessee pick its head coach, and Apple doesn’t have the board of Microsoft select its CEO, we should not let non-Republicans pick our nominees. It’s past time to close Tennessee’s primaries.”
Who were they? Don’t you think it’s important for us to know?
Stuart, I detect a theme here, which I mostly agree with!
We all know the answer to why the primaries aren’t closed. It’s because in reality the Democrats from 15 years ago started morphing into Republicans when they felt the winds of change blowing. They talk all the conservative buzz words on the campaign trail. But once elected, behind the scenes, they scheme and connive to keep their power, fill their “war chests” and secure their riches outside of politics. They vote just conservatively enough to keep the citizens guessing and use procedural prestidigitation to make sure that good Bills (like closed primaries) never see the light of day. Of course it doesn’t help when we have a rich Governor who is really an Obama wanna-be. So, ANYBODY BUT BOYD is mostly right. Black and Harwell fit EXACTLY into the mold of “Repubicrats”. They BOTH have learned how to effectively straddle the fence AND play the old three card monte on citizens!
Bill Lee, although an unknown, is at least an “outsider”, having never played the political game, is a VERY respectable human being, AND seems to know how to effectively and efficiently run a large organization that actually DOES SOMETHING! We will see what the citizens of Tennessee want… more of the same or the opportunity to follow the path that Donald Trump has illuminated!
There is no greater obstacle to the election of conservatives in the Republican primaries than the ability of centrists/tepid conservatives to use liberal Democrats votes to get elected. Beth Harwell’s failure to make passage of HB0887 which would close Tennessee’s primaries a priority reveals she is not all that conservative which makes her election as governor not all that important to conservatives. In that respect she has something in common with Diane Black and Bill Lee. That’s OK, so long as its ANYBODY BUT BOYD!
Say it isn’t so. Bona fide Democrats voting in the Republican primary? What will the Democrats think of next – producing a dossier full of lies about President Trump? Oh, that’s right. They have already done that. A political party gone to the dogs – no insulted intended for dog lovers.