More on Madison Purge

Madison County Herald - Butler calls for Sautermeister's resignation - Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler is calling for the resignation of Madison County Election Commissioner Sue Sautermeister who was responsible for moving almost 11,000 names from voter rolls. In addition, attorney Dale Danks Jr. is calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the removal of names from Madison County and possible impropriety surrounding the voting record of Republican David Landrum of Madison, a candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

Butler said she is reviewing the names of city residents included in the list of 10,942 removed from the voter registration rolls. “There are over 2,700 of our city voters included,” she said. “The more names I find, the madder I get.”

Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson said he met with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann today and was assured that all the names have been restored. Those voters will be able to vote without any problems on Tuesday, he said.

Butler said city employees and other longtime residents, who have voted in recent elections and have not changed their residence, were removed from the rolls. Landrum, his wife and daughter were removed.

“Why did she delete him? She knew he was a candidate,” Butler said. “It makes no sense she would arbitrarily delete a candidate, his wife and daughter.”

Sautermeister said she based the removals on jury notices and voter notification cards that had been returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service. However, Election Commission Chairman Kakey Chaney said Sautermeister did not follow the procedures the commission has followed the past three years in making voters inactive.

Butler said she believes removing the thousands of names, most of whom live in the 3rd Congressional District, was an attempt to harm Landrum’s campaign. “I think it’s an attempt to derail the heart ... of his congressional base in Madison County,” she said.

Danks said he has written a letter formally requesting an FBI investigation into the series of activities surrounding the election. Besides the removal of the names, which affects the Landrum campaign, Danks said he is submitting an affidavit that raises the question of possible impropriety in Hinds County voter records. “You put all that together and it doesn’t pass the smell test,” Danks said. “This all raises enough questions for the FBI to step in and investigate.” The attempt to remove so many voters from Landrum’s home base could affect Tuesday’s results, Danks said.

Johnson said county officials will wait until after Tuesday’s election to look into Sautermeister’s actions. “We will proceed at whatever rate we need to to make sure there is confidence in our voting procedures,” he said.

Madison County has more voters on the rolls than are included in the 2000 census, Johnson said, so names obviously need to be purged. “But there needs to be a right way to do it,” he said. The Secretary of State’s Office will send representatives to Madison County to discuss appropriate ways to purge the books, Johnson said.