David Cole, a Republican originally elected last year to a position in the Alabama state legislature, has resigned from his role and agreed to plead guilty to a felony criminal charge of what amounts to voter fraud. Cole voted from a district in which he did not actually live. He also ran for office to represent that district, though the rules associated with the seat he sought demanded that he reside in the actual jurisdiction for at least a year.
The criminal case against Cole is being handled by state prosecuting authorities in Alabama. The deception around his actual place of residence shows clear indications of intention, considering he signed an agreement with a homeowner in the district where he voted and ran for office that provided him with claimed rights to a portion of that residence amounting merely to five feet by five feet. Cole later provided an adjusted copy of the agreement with this homeowner to his campaign manager that made it seem the candidate-turned-legislator-turned-criminal defendant was renting a house.
Cole continued to claim tax privileges associated with his previously established personal residence — in another district — even while making other moves in District 10, the jurisdiction he temporarily represented.
The circumstances of this case indicate again the real problem of real-world voter fraud. There’s no wide-ranging conspiracy that’s swung an election, as Trump and others continue to claim after what seems like every election their side loses. Rather, there are sometimes isolated instances of misconduct that are quickly uncovered and handled under the law — and the perpetrators in these cases are just as easily Republicans as they are affiliated elsewhere. Remember the cases of double voting out of the Republican-leaning community in Florida known as The Villages?
Cole will be facing a short stint in jail of 60 days, followed by probation. Concerns about where Cole actually lived have been raised as far back as the primary, when a Republican candidate also in the race ended up pushed out of the contest for claimed reasons of involvement with the Libertarians. This fellow contender had questioned Cole’s actual place of residence.
