The Clarion-Ledger called on Hinds County District 3 Election Commissioner Jermel Clark to resign:
"The Hinds County absentee ballot fiasco is an unforgivable dereliction of duty that should result in a change of leadership on the election commission at the very least.
State law says the responsibility for ensuring absentee ballots are produced on time falls to the chairman of the county election commission. For Hinds County, that is District 3 Election Commissioner Jermal Clark. After eight years as an election commissioner, his admission that he doesn’t know how to operate the software required to complete the ballots is shocking. His excuse of never having received training doesn’t cut it. It’s his own fault for not ensuring he received the proper training well before the deadline for absentee ballots to be printed. He is, after all, the commission chairman.
The Hinds County Election Commission allowed internal strife and egos to get in the way of sufficiently serving voters. In-fighting and childish behavior has made a mockery of democracy in Hinds County, and they should all be ashamed.
Below Clark’s name on the list of those who should be held responsible is District 4 Elections Commissioner Connie Cochran. Her conduct before the Hinds County Board of Supervisors earlier this week was abysmal. Calling a fellow commissioner “too dumb to do the ballot” during a public meeting is uncalled for.
More inexcusable is the fact that she refused to show Clark how to produce the ballots. Her objection to doing so was over the order candidate names would appear on the ballot. In the past, the names appeared in alphabetical order. Clark wanted the names to appear by party, with Democrats first, Republicans second and other parties last. Cochran said she would only show Clark how to do the ballots if he listed candidate names alphabetically.
While we agree that the names should be listed alphabetically, it’s clearly more important that people be allowed to vote. Cochran’s stubbornness in this situation was unwarranted and has contributed to this travesty. She should be ashamed, and she should publicly apologize to the voters she failed....
The Hinds County Election Commission has a long, sad history of unprofessional behavior. Clark has been the root of much of the conflict on the commission, so in some way he brought this on himself. That said, this failure belongs to every member.
At this point, a brand new slate of election commissioners is exactly what Hinds County needs. Short of that, Clark should resign as chairman of the commission. He has failed, and he does not deserve the leadership position he holds." Editorial
The Democratic Party issued a press release criticizing the Election Commission as well:
"The Failure of the Hinds County Election Commission is a Disgrace
JACKSON--"The news that military ballots and absentee ballots have not been available for ten days, despite the clear requirements of state law, is disappointing. However, given the history of the Hinds County Elections Commission, it is unfortunately not surprising" said Jacqueline Amos-Norris, Chairperson of the Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee. "The same commission that has spent months vigorously purging voters and moving voters to the inactive rolls and the same commission that routinely botches the conduct of elections, has once again failed to meet the federally-mandated deadline to provide absentee ballots to our military and other voters. When will the Hinds County Elections Commissioners demonstrate some basic level of competence? This inexcusable failure diminishes public confidence in our elections, and has the practical effect of suppressing voter turnout and impeding qualified voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. We demand that the state and/or federal governments step in and force the Hinds County Elections Commission to afford every qualified voter the right to vote, and we insist that every legitimate vote be counted. The incompetence, the infighting and the unprofessionalism must end."
"Looking to the future, we are already researching options to change state and federal law so that failsafe steps can be put into place. These chronic problems must not be allowed to be repeated again and again. The Democrats of Hinds County, and all the voters of our county and state deserve better," Amos-Norris said.""
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Dems & CL have a few things to say about Hinds County Election Commission
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15 comments:
If Clark is Chairman is should know how to construct the ballot. Supposely there is an instruction book to tell how to constuct a ballot. Either Clark is totally inept or stupid or a combination of the two. I understand Ms Cochran's fustration at being made the goat in public--it is not her fault. If Clark cannot do the ballot himself he must be willing to compromise on the listing issue. What would happen if Cochran is not available?
I loved how Clark called it a Republican conspiracy. Damn that is a stupid remark. (See above).
Hinds County is quickly becoming a third world country.
Chairman Clark kind of makes the Stokes duo look good.
Question -- wouldn't changing the order of the ballot be considered a change in elections procedures? And wouldn't that have to be approved by the Justice Department? I believe that ballot order HAS been something that has fallen under Voting Rights issues before.
KF, kudos.
Nothing partisan in your reporting, just the facts, the video, the truth and a flashlight.
I will say, Connie can certainly apologize for speaking the truth, but beyond that, she should take pride in the last last umpteen years and Graham should be thanking his lucky stars she is a professional.
Didnt Clark play the role of Daryl in Coming to America with Eddie Murphy.... The prince of SOUL GLO...i always wondered what he was doing since his acting days!!!
There's enough blame to go around, even a good measure for Cochran. Some of you just can't admit to that. We can talk all day about who is most to blame, who comes in second, third and fourth. But, what difference does it make if the liver fails before the kidneys when the patient dies?
How could you possibly place any blame on Ms. Cochran for this circus? This is what you get when you place incompetent individuals in these roles, namely Clark!! One more reason why Jackson, and in this case Hinds County, is going to hell in a hand basket!!!
5:43; if you knew the history, watched the video and read all the posts, you'd have your answer.
There is no blame to Cochran. If you wanted to go there, you would need to include the other three Commissioners! Cochran was the only one of the other Commissioners with the balls to stand up and state the truth. Avery hides away from any controversy. Graves is as much of an idiot as Clark. Dr. Rhodes is a nice lady but the technology has left her behind. Truth of the matter is that Cochran, Rhodes and Avery all at least try to do what is right! Graves has never even thought about what is right. And Clark cannot spell it.
Cochran is not to blame here - she has done her job. Why should she be thrown under the bus just because she won't do her job AND Clark's?
Clark wanted the position - he is too dumb to do it. (Yes I am repeating Cochran's statement, but it was the nice way to talk about his ineptness.)
Clark should resign. But the same voters that re-elected Ms. Stokes are the voters that have the opportunity to choose another commissioner. Guess where we in Hinds County will end up in this election??
Election Commissioners are elected independently. They have NO responsibility for training other Commissioners. Training is provided to all election commissioners is provided by the SOS, and also by the equipment manufacturers.
Clark is incompetent - and he wants to blame his ineptness on others. This is not Cochran's fault, or any of the other Commissioners. It is solely the fault, and the failure of Jemel Clark. He shouldn't be an Election Commissioner - much less the President of the Commission. He has claimed per diem pay for years while he "studied the code" until late hours every night. Why didn't he even bother to study "how the machines work" instead? Then maybe he would be able to admit that he couldn't understand his studies!
Reread this thread and thought I was at Wild Wings with a table full of Ole Miss Bear fans. Everybody blaming somebody else and nobody understanding jack about teamwork. Not me. Must be him. Nope, it's her. Can't be her, gotta be him. Not me. We aren't paid to play together. Right. Everybody but me. Or her.
Scatterfax - why "her"? Why not all five, if you want to pass blame. Cochran just happened to be the one commissioner with the balls to speak what needed to be spoken - that Clark was spouting lies trying to cover for his incompetence. So now, its both 'his' and 'her' fault that he couldn't do what the law specifically says is his responsibility? There are five commissioners - two can't do their job. So you, and others, say it is both Clark and Cochran's fault, but leave off Graves, Rhodes and Avery? Interesting process.
To: 5:43
I have enough information to understand this is NOT Connie Cochran's fault!!! What part of this do you not understand??? Did you and Clark attend the same school of thought??? Obviously so and were both absent the day they taught common sense!!!!
Help us Rachel Madcow we r stuk hear in misisipi.
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