Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

10 October 2014

Statute of limitations bars prosecution of Schnebel for voter fraud

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Whether Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan wants to prosecute Democratic county commissioner candidate Stacey Schnebel for voting in Whitefish while living in Coram is moot. He can’t. The one-year statute of limitations on the alleged misdemeanor expired years ago. Corrigan forwarded the issue to the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, but the verdict that counts will be delivered by the voters of Flathead County in just over three weeks.

Schnebel never had much chance of winning the election running as a Democrat. Now she has even less of a chance, although how much less is not easily measured. Her voting in one place while living in another may not trouble some voters. Neither may her government officials were to blame defense that she presented in her letter (below) in the 3 October Daily InterLake (a letter she still has not posted on her website).

There’s an old saying, “every dog’s allowed one bite,” that applies here. Voting in Whitefish while living in Coram was wrong, but admitting that mistake and begging forgiveness for it would earn her a second chance from most people, myself included. Instead, she blamed everyone but herself. I find that worrisome, and so does the InterLake in its excellent editorial today:

It’s Schnebel’s further explanation that is troubling. Instead of taking full responsibility for the oversight, she’s blaming the various county and state agencies she dealt with because they never told her to update her voter registration. She also pointed the finger at Whitefish election judges who apparently verified her Coram address and still gave her a Whitefish ballot.

Her explanation for her actions is quite frankly lame, and it may have dug her a deeper hole in the mind of many voters. Most of us want candidates who follow the law — period. Blaming others for one’s own mistakes does speak to integrity, or lack thereof, and Flathead County voters have every right to consider this when making their choice.

Schnebel’s conduct, incidentally, most likely is fairly rare but not unique. Although virtually all voters cast ballots in the precincts in which they live — government based on representation from districts would’t work otherwise — there undoubtedly are a few who live in one precinct and vote in another. Although I suspect most who do so do so inadvertently, I also suspect a few do so deliberately. An example of a voter deliberately voting out-of-precinct would be a downtown businessman who uses his business address as his voter registration address so he can vote for city officials while living outside the city limits. Jayson Peters’ gotcha attack on Schnebel could well boomerang.

3 October 2014 statement by Stacey Schnebel

I became an active Montana voter in Whitefish in 2002. In 2006, my husband and I bought our log cabin in Coram, to which we moved in 2007. We were married and I changed my name in 2008, and then I updated my drivers license in 2009. Later in 2009 we purchased the Stonefly Lounge and its liquor license, and I underwent the requisite review by the Montana Departments of revenue and Justice.

Despite these four interactions with various county agencies I was never prompted to nor given the opportunity to update my voter registration. So from 2007 to 2011, I dutifully showed up and voted at my precinct in Whitefish, not just twice, but sixt time. In 2012, of my own volition, I updated my voter registration. That was two election cycles ago, and I have voted in three elections in my precinct since then.

The term “illegal voting” and the picture painted of my intent is merely a construct by my opponent’s Party leadership. The front page headline was meant to cloud the issues and confuse the voters of Flathead County. The bottom line is, this is not a case of a malicious intent to affect elections in Whitefish. Election judges verified my Coram address and gave me a ballot at my Whitefish precinct, even after my official address changes.

Isn’t it interesting the amount of time my opponent and his Party leadership spend on the topic of the Whitefish doughnut? The fate of the Whitefish doughnut has been determined, and the people of Flathead County are ready to move forward. I’m sure not coincidentally, the day that Republican Party leadership cas these allegations at me, I publicly asked my opponent in a letter “in the coming years, County leaders will need to do the work of repairing and rebuilding the relationship between the County and the City of Whitefish. What role do you see yourself playing in this process?” This is an important question, and residents of all three municipalities in our county should expect a reason response.

Flathead County Republican Chairman Jayson Peters state that he brought these “facts” to light to “level the playing field” in this race for Flathead County Commission. Voters, wouldn’t it be nice if a Party fielding a candidate for public office made an effort to elevate the quality of their own candidate instead of endeavoring to tear down their worthy opposition?