Bullock County Politics

I used to think the State of Louisiana was king in the world of crooked politics. That is until I moved to Bullock County, Alabama. Bullock County is one of the poorest in the state. Some of the locals think it is kept that way because it makes it easier to obtain grants whose funds are pilfered by local politicians.

In every election since I moved here in 2001, there have been complaints about absentee ballots. Apparently somebody made enough noise that Attorney General Troy King confiscated all the absentee ballots from the 2008 primary election to be examined for fraud. The results of that investigation is pending.

The Bullock County Executive Democratic Committee convened to examine the race between Alonza Ellis and Terry Jackson for the Democratic nomination to a county commission seat. Jackson was leading the race until the absentee ballots were counted. But in the end, Perry won. Jackson contested the election and the aforementioned committee found enough evidence of fraud that they overturned the election, giving the nomination to Jackson. Improper absentee ballots were not executed properly. A majority of them were obtained by sitting Commissioner Johnny Adams and people working for his re-election. The committee also took testimony that revealed votes had been paid for.

Everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But if guilt is determined somebody needs to do some jail time. But even that is doubtful if a trial is ever held in Bullock County. I can think of two instances where public officials were guilty of misdeeds and the courts allowed the perpetrators to retire and draw their retirement.

The theme of this election season is change and reform. A good strong dose of this would be good for Bullock County.