Disenfranchising the African American/black vote has been problematic – now a political aide to Maryland’s former Republican Governor is sentenced to 30 days home detention for his conspiracy to keep black voters away from the polls in what was described as “deceitful” and an attempt to “interfere with anyone’s opportunity to vote that it’s absolutely unacceptable.”
AP reports that the calls were made to 110,000 people in areas whose residents are typically black voters, who tend to vote reliably Democratic. The calls suggested that voters did not need to bother going to the polls because Democrat Martin O’Malley had already defeated his opponent Republican Robert Ehrlich.
AP reports:
Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill called the scheme an offense that strikes at the heart of the nation’s most important values.
The judge also gave Paul Schurick a one-year suspended jail sentence and ordered him to serve 500 hours of community service in Prince George’s County and Baltimore city, where the calls were directed, over four years of his probation. A fine was not imposed.
“This needs to send a message to anyone who would interfere with anyone’s opportunity to vote that it’s absolutely unacceptable,” Fletcher-Hill told Schurick.
While dissecting our cities and morphing them into what appears to be a bowl of spaghetti, in redistricting efforts, is it any wonder why they’re accused of disenfranchising the black voters. Voter ID laws are touted as a means to stop voting fraud, yet there are no credible facts to back up this overused talking point. And now this.
My greatest focus that day was making sure that our supporters went to the polls,” he said. “That 90-second phone call destroyed any legacy I would have hoped to have left. … It was the wrong decision, but it was mine and mine alone.”
Schurick, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the robocalls, testified during trial that he rejected Henson’s black voter suppression strategy dubbed “The Schurick Doctrine” but later approved the robocall script. He said he didn’t know the authority line, which would have noted that the message came from Ehrlich’s campaign, would be left off. O’Malley handily won the rematch against Ehrlich, whom he had unseated in 2006.
Henson, the consultant, claims that the calls were not meant to suppress black voter turnout as was claimed but the call says otherwise:
”Hello. I’m calling to let everybody know that Governor O’Malley and President Obama have been successful. Our goals have been met. The polls were correct, and we took it back. We’re OK. Relax. Everything’s fine. The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight. Congratulations, and thank you.”
H/T: My good friend QueerJohnPA
Image: The Rag Blog
