FL Dem alleges GOP election fraud and gets arrested

[lala_rawraw]

Miriam Raftery
Published: Monday June 12, 2006

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<snip>
Charlie Grapski, a Democrat running for the Florida House of Representatives, was arrested in April after filing a lawsuit alleging that City officials abused power and influenced the outcome of an election by manipulating the absentee voting process. The story, however, does not start or end with election fraud allegations. What Grapski tells is a tale that one cannot imagine occurring in a law abiding country, one of false arrest, intimidation, and a crony-business system all centered around money interests. Clovis Watson is not only the City Manager of Alachua county and, as such, the defendant in Grapski’s lawsuit, he is also the Police Commissioner of Alchua, Florida, a town dominated by the Republican Party and pro-development Democrats.

<snip>

RS: What was your reaction and what happened next? Were you surprised that the police were called?

CG: Whenever anybody comes to City Hall in Alachua and speaks up, they call the police force. Clovis Watson holds more than one office (City Manager/Police Commissioner/Clerk Canvassing Board Member). It’s unlawful in state of FL to hold 2 offices….Then Clovis came in and began speaking; a few minutes into it said I notice you’re recording me. He said “If I don’t give consent, that’s a felony.” I said, “No, you can clearly see that I’m recording, two is that you’re continuing to talk, and three is you’re a public official engaged in public business.” He actually wrote in a memorandum to the City Commission that he had no problem being recorded.

<snip>

RS: What did the Mayor have to say about all of this?


CG: The Mayor (Jean Calderwood) had been appointed in the past by Jeb Bush. Her husband was the treasurer of the James Lewis campaign. She’s also a defendant in the case. She’s come out publicly in the newspapers over the weekend saying that she was in constant communication with Clovis Watson to arrange my being arrested…She said Clovis Watson did not go out on a limb alone, he was in constant communication with her…She said that in a letter to the editor of the newspaper editor.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Florida_House_candidate_to_face_litany_0612.html
...

I urge all of you to read the entire account because this is really twisted stuff IMHO.

Then send far and wide because this guy needs help

[stop the bleeding]

1. .

boot and kick!

[BeFree]

22. Link from DU activist page about (from) this guy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=28339&mesg_id=28339

[IndyOp]

2. I suggest you edit your title to 'election fraud investigation/claims' or

something like that. I thought your title was saying that a Dem had committed election fraud.

:kick:

[CottonBear]

4. That's what I thought too until I read part of the article.

Florida is one screwed up place as far as voting is concerned. :(
The man who illegally holds three offices sounds lke a real crook and the mayor must be crooked since she's a Jeb Bush crony.

[B Calm]

5. My first thought too....

[eviltwin2525]

17. me too, but maybe that's a good thing....

....as it will suck in some ditto-freepers who will then get their minds expanded. OK, OK, 0x2 is still 0.

[liberalnurse]

6. me too...

In all the excitement, folks don't proof read their titles......:scared:

[rodeodance]

11. so did I

[lala_rawraw]

12. I did, hope is better... don't have time to fix again:(

[CottonBear]

14. Perfect! Thank you for poating this story on DU! n/t

[xchrom]

3. kick

[robinlynne]

7. title- maybe could be arrested for alledging voter fraud instead of

arrested for voting fraud allegations.
terrible story.
k&r

[jsamuel]

8. change title, your title is kinda wrong

I think what you meant to say was "Florida Dem candidate arrested for alleging election fraud"

[halobeam]

9. agreed... he was "alleging" election fraud. BIG difference.

Note: Very twisted indeed. I won't step foot in FLA. Don't trust it. Very sad.

What can we do to help him?

[yellerpup]

10. This is sick stuff

K&R. Tell the world. :kick:

[me b zola]

13. Talk about abuse of power!

What a frickin mess. I read the entire article. What about the Dem Party at the state level, have they been contacted? There are so many twists and turns to this saga, it is mindblowing:

"CG: The State Attorney’s office has not formally charged us, but they’ve refused to drop the charges, so they are playing this game of harassment. They know the minute they drop the charges we will go on the offense and bring false arrest and civil rights charges. To make matters worse, the former state attorney who many in state attorney office work for is Rod Smith, a Democrat running for Governor. Rod Smith is from Alachua and he wrote Clovis Watson’s dual office-holding contact."






Let us know what we can do to help.

[indepat]

44. A microcosm of the kind of government tens of millions of Americans want?

[tblue37]

15. Send to Keith Olbermann, John Stewart,

and Stephen Colbert.

Someone needs to be named Olbermann's "Worst Person in the WOrld," don't you think?

[madfloridian]

16. Here is what I posted about Charlie last week...dropped like a rock.

Sure glad you picked up on this story. Florida needs all the help it can get. Keep up the good work, Charlie. We need more like you.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/124

[glitch]

18. K & R nt

[KoKo]

19. Words cannot express what is so terrible about this.... n/t

[bluefish]

20. This is so wrong

How do we help this guy?

[madfloridian]

21. Look in the Raw Story comments section.

There are some links there.

[bluefish]

24. Thanks, will do! n/t

[Roland99]

23. Can we have Iraq invade us to spread a little democracy over here?

[EFerrari]

25. 'Way to get the story out, lala. Thank you.

:kick:

[Doctor_J]

26. If you think Smirk is bad, wait until Jeb's in the WH

he'll bring back images of Stalin.

[ooglymoogly]

27. absolutely kick and nom. nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

28. Be careful with this one

From what I've read about this story, this fellow may end up making Bev Harris look like a rational human.

He seems to be very good at creating a stir and drawing attention to himself. If the fellow had followed proper procedures to begin with he probably could have gotten what he wanted. Instead, he goes to the wrong people, demanding things they can't give them and then accuses them of doing him wrong.

I think you might want to dig a little deeper before you hitch your wagon to this guy.

[madfloridian]

30. Actually, Charlie is pretty well known and trusted...

by the Deaniac community. He has been a part of things in the Dean Campaign and in DFA for as long as many remember. Here is just one page with some pics from Democracy Fest, and there are many other with Charlie in them. I think he can be trusted. I am glad someone is working to find out stuff here in Florida, because it is hard to do here. The Republicans even here in Central Florida control everything with a firm hand....we are merely tolerated as Democrats..

I think Charlie is fine. I have not met him, but he is well known to us.

http://sf4dean.com/gallery/Posted-by-David-A-Stevenson

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. Then why doesn't he follow proper procedures for doing things?

For example, from a report in the Gainesville Sun last month -

Earlier that day, Grapski showed up at City Hall with Alachua County Commissioner Mike Byerly for what Grapski said was a scheduled appointment with Deputy City Clerk Alan Henderson to examine absentee ballots from the recent election.

Why is he going to the City Clerk for election records? He should have gone to the Alachua Co. Board of Elections.

He also pulled this crap last year and ended up suing the President of UF over records having to do with the campus group FL Blue Key. Why didn't he just go to Blue Key and ask them for their records or sue them if they wouldn't cooperate? I really don't see what the President of UF had to do with any of it.

Sorry, seems this one just loves the attention.

[madfloridian]

32. Just the way he is, I guess.

I don't think you should question his credibility, just question the way he does things. There is a difference. I am too shy about doing things anyway, so maybe I am not critical of those who do them.

You are not defending the city's actions, I hope.

[DoYouEverWonder]

35. The ways

don't always justify the means.

We have serious issues to confront in order to restore our electoral system. We don't need clowns who are going to end up discrediting the cause like Bev Harris did.

If Mr. Grapski wants to examine the absentee ballots why doesn't he just go to the Alachua Co. Board of Election, pay the $30/hr that is required and he can look at all the ballots he wants?

[madfloridian]

36. Have you read all the stuff on this?

There is a lot of it. Maybe it is good to call attention to it. Maybe that is the only way to get people to notice.

Now, as to Blue Key, I don't know the whole story. I have family who were leaders in Blue Key years ago, one prez of it I think, and I don't even know if the Florida group is connected to the Blue Key. They sound alike to me.

Not going to argue about Charlie, if you don't like the way he does things that is your right...but he IS doing things. That counts for a lot. He does lot more than I do for sure.

Read a book called Tortoise Stew, don't have the link right now...but it tells a lot about that area.

I say good for Charlie, good for people who buzz around like gnats and make people pay attention.

[abester]

41. how exactly did Bev Harris discredit 'the cause'?

enlighten me please.

[PurgedVoter]

43. I was a fan of Bev Harris

She made claims that weakened everyones arguments and had directly attacked 'Competitors' in other words other people who were researching voting issues.

Imagine if you will, O'really with a good cause. She is the front name in this issue, she has done great work, she could easily damage the credibility of the cause. I was a strong fan, so I have looked up and followed through on a lot of the issues.

Here are a few links:

Democratic Undergrounds relations with Bev;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=108750&mesg_id=108750

A list of links;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=108750&mesg_id=109951

[abester]

45. Thanks

I had no idea, slipped me by completely.
I'm going to read it closely and after due consideration perhaps revise my opinion. Thanks for enlightning me!

[madfloridian]

33. Edit...dupe.

Only clicked post once, so don't know what happened.

[madfloridian]

37. I am proud of this little HEP blog for starting this.....

Sometimes in life you pay your money and take your chances. Most of us who are/were Deaniacs consider Charlie part of our community. This little blog took a chance and pushed the issue, and we are getting attention. Good for them.

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/

All of life is not cut and dried and easy to figure. Charlie is an activist in every sense of the word. I am an activist in a more cautious sense. That is how people are.

Good for Renee and the rest at the blog for pushing and good for Raw Story and Truthout for taking it up...

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/

[madfloridian]

38. More pics of Charlie from the 2004 Democracy Fest.

http://sf4dean.com/gallery/BREAKFAST

Don't worry. The world needs more Charlies.

[rman]

40. otoh it's not unlikely people like this are being smeared by the RW

http://blackboxvoting.org/diebold-PRmachine.pdf

http://blackboxWATCHDOG.com

[Doctor_J]

29. A preview of life in the US in a few years

This is really disturbing reading - and a clear glimpse of the not-too-distant future in the US. As the victim in this case, Grapski, says, "if you can't clean up one town, you have no chance at the national level". That about sums it up.

[marions ghost]

46. so true

if people really looked at what goes on in their own communities (no matter how "good" they think it to be)--they would be shocked. Corruption is everywhere. Florida just has some especially deep festering pockets.

[DoYouEverWonder]

47. Clean up what?

He just loves frivolous lawsuits.

The City of Alachua is not a hotbed of GOP corruption. If he's really interested in going after corruption maybe he should move to Orlando or Miami.

His arrest was a staged publicity stunt. Gee the cameras just happened to be there?

I'm a lifelong DEM and I've been active in Gainesville politics since I moved here. I know most of the key players in town and this guy is a joke. He's a pain in the ass who just wants attention and money.

Sorry to burst people's bubbles about this new 'scandal' but there are much better things we need to spend our time and energy on.

[AuntiBush]

34. Kicked for Significance - for Interests in Outcome.

This is bizarre. Coming from Jeb-country though, makes one wonder.

[genieroze]

39. I just read this, appalling.

[myrna minx]

42. Oh my gawd.

:wow:

[shance]

48. Kick

n/t

[hpot]

49. reasonable expectation of privacy

The public official cannot claim reasonable expectation of privacy so the charge is complete BS.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1435062&mesg_id=1439335

"The irony of this of course, is that when I contacted the television news with videotape of one of the incidents that they (the officials) claim Michael violated the law by videotaping, Michael videotaped me audio taping Clovis Watson. But the television station was there too, videotaping. They showed this on the news, yet Michael and I are being charged with videotaping while the television station isn’t--and they were there doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. That’s how absurd this whole thing is. "