No Criminal Offense in Pocomoke Election

Monday, June 1st, 2009

There might be irregularities in the recent Pocomoke City election, but the State’s Attorneys Office in Worcester County say that no crime was committed. Joel Todd, the State’s Attorney for Worcester County released a statement that said “The office’s role is to determine whether there’s probable cause that a crime was committed. This would be based on the facts obtained from extensive investigation and the laws of Maryland State and Pocomoke City. Based on my conclusion, there’s none.”

The cause of the investigation is a candidate claiming that there’s voter fraud in Pocomoke’s council seat election (District 4). According to Stephanie Burke, town leaders have coerced people (for example, those in the senior citizen communities) to vote for Tracy Cottman (her opponent in the election) because these town leaders do not like her change platform.

More specifically, Burke’s complaints were as follows:

• -Her opponent solicited for absentee ballots, completed portions of absentee ballots applications, handled completed absentee ballots, and marked portions of absentee ballots.
• -Most of the absentee voters could have voted in-person.
• -Board of Election Supervisors in Pocomoke failed to perform their duties.

Truly, certain irregularities were seen in the election system of Pocomoke during the investigation conducted. The State’s Attorney’s Office said that in the recent election, it’s possible that 17 people voted twice, both in-person and by absentee ballot. However, Todd says that there’s really no evidence that this actually happened.

Tags: attorney, Criminal, Joel Todd, Maryland State, Pocomoke City, State's Attorneys Office, Stephanie Burke, Tracy Cottman, Worcester County
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