When a person is in a position in which the public is relying on his or her authority, any allegations of misconduct can come as a shock. People may be quick to judge the person as guilty without knowing all of the circumstances in the case. When the allegations are for serious charges, like felonies, it is important for accused people to defend themselves. Public servant or not, everyone has the right to be treated as innocent until proven guilty.
One Oregon election worker may be fighting public scrutiny now that a criminal investigation has led to felony charges. According to authorities with the Department of Justice, this election worker was filling in Republican candidates' names on unmarked ballots during the November election. Election officials claimed that another worker saw the woman filling in blank ballots a few days before the general election. No one else is suspected of similar conduct.
Following the investigation, a grand jury indicted the woman on several charges. She faces two counts of unlawfully voting more than once and two counts of unlawfully altering a cast ballot. These are both felony charges. If convicted on these charges, the 55-year-old woman could be sentenced to a $125,000 fine and up to five years in prison. The woman was also charged with first-degree official misconduct, which carries a fine of just over $6,000 and a jail sentence of up to one year.
Despite public outrage over these allegations, this woman must be treated fairly during her criminal proceedings. Like in all criminal cases, it is the prosecutor's burden to prove that this woman engaged in criminal conduct and not her duty to prove that she is innocent.
Source: KOIN, "Grand jury indicts former Clackamas Co. elections employee in ballot tampering case," Brent Weisberg, Nov. 29, 2012
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