By dismissing a lawsuit involving absentee ballot voter fraud, a Tallahassee judge inadvertently gave Miami-Dade County ballot brokers the green light to continue on their merry ways.
As reported in the Miami Herald in Judge rejects Florida House primary challenge, “Wednesday’s testimony prompted Leon County Chief Circuit Court Judge Charles Francis to rule against Rep. John Patrick Julien” in his lawsuit against Rep. Barbara Watson. Mr. Julien alleged that absentee ballot fraud had occurred in two precincts in House District 107 due to her use of “ballot brokers” at two nursing homes. Even though the judge threw out six of one hundred fifty ballots, claiming the signatures on the absentee ballots did not match the ones on their respective voter registration cards, Judge Francis deemed that no voter fraud took place.
Not reported by the Herald, but will be brought to light once the transcripts of the trial are available, are several disturbing issues that have severe consequences for voters in House District 107, and specifically in the cities of North Miami and North Miami Beach.
For one, witness Carline Paul admitted that she accepts payments from candidates to promote them on her radio show, and at the same time, she claims she “educates” voters on how to vote. As I reported in We’re All Disenfranchised Now, an English translation of her radio show asserted that she said, “When you receive those absentee ballots at home, don’t let anyone take them! You must consult with someone you trust, or consult teacher Carline. She’ll help you understand what’s on the ballot in order to vote correctly.”
“Vote correctly?” Sure sounds like, “Vote for the candidate who paid me the most money.” I’m just saying.
Even more hilarious is her statement in the Herald article, “What I do on my radio show doesn’t have anything to do with the education that I’m giving people. The people of the community are confused, so I’m telling them all the steps they have to do to ensure they are voting properly.”
Sure sounds like, “The Haitian people are just too damn ignorant to think for themselves so I have to do it for them.” I’m just saying.
Another witness that was served with a subpoena and who defied a court order to appear was one Noucelie “Nancy” Josna, the self-proclaimed Queen of Absentee Ballots. As I reported in Where’s Nancy, she only appeared on Wednesday to testify after the judge issued a Writ of Bodily Attachment, ordering the sheriff to haul her ass in. Even then, she never made it to Tallahassee, but was allowed to testify via Skype from South Florida.
What the Herald did not report is that there were sixteen nursing home residents from precincts 123 and 130 whose votes were counted even though they claim they neither requested nor mailed in absentee ballots. These people wanted to testify but they were not allowed to travel to Tallahassee because of nursing home insurance laws. Early in the trial, Mr. Julien’s attorney had requested that their testimony be permitted via Skype, and the judge denied his request.
Interesting that he allowed a scofflaw, such as Noucelie Josna, to appear via internet, but refused to hear testimony from sixteen people whose votes were clearly stolen. That’s messed up!
I’m told that Mr. Julien’s attorney also wanted to submit into evidence several thousand absentee ballots for review, with the claim that a good many of them would be proven to be fraudulent. The judge didn’t want to be bothered with the tedious burden of examining them. Maybe it would interfere with his tee time? Who knows?
Another thing that the transcript will show is that Josna admitted receiving “cash payments” from Barbara Watson, as well as County Commissioner Barbara Jordan and Congresscritter Frederica Wilson. It will be interesting to see whether or not those “cash payments” were part of or in addition to the money those three ladies from Miami Gardens reported as expenses on their Campaign Treasurer Reports when they paid fellow Miami Gardens resident Noucelie Josna. I’m just saying.
But the best proof that Josna thinks she’s above the law is the fact that she stated, under oath, to a Circuit Court Judge, that she never filed a United States Income Tax Return. “Never?” asked attorney JC Planas. “Never!” exclaimed the Queen of Absentee Ballots.
Ms. Josna has received thousands of dollars on record for her “work” collecting absentee ballots. I’m told by candidates that she approaches them during election time and offers her “services” for a minimum of ten thousand dollars. She apparently haggles down from that starting point.
So, if she receives income of tens of thousands of dollars for her “services,” how is it she’s NEVER, EVER filed an Income Tax Return? I’m sure the Internal Revenue Service would be very interested in collecting its fair share. I’m just saying.
It just so happens that I received a phone call yesterday at 2:45 p.m. that Ms. Josna was giving an interview on radio station 1320, so I tuned in and caught the last fifteen minutes of a show hosted by Rothschild Anderson. Was THAT an eye opener!
For one thing, Mr. Anderson is not your typical radio host in that he is not an unbiased interviewer. From the little I heard, it was quite apparent that he was more interested in giving Noucelie Josna a forum to tell her version of the events instead of the actual truth. And, believe me, she told quite a tale. For one thing, she claimed she never met John Patrick Julien personally, while several other people have told me they have seen Ms. Josna and Mr. Julien speaking together several times over the years. Josna has obviously been on the campaign scene for quite some time.
Josna also told her version of how she eventually had to be court ordered to testify, which I imagine will be somewhat of a variation from the actual truth. I’ll be able to compare which “truth” is actually true as soon the transcripts of the hearing are available. Stay tuned.
Mr. Anderson also had plenty to say about Mr. Julien and his “taking Republican money” and his “hanging around with white Republicans” while “forgetting that he’s a black man.”
Yeah, you know how enamored I am of identity politics. Radio talk show host Rothschild Anderson apparently does not care for Republicans OR white people, and he certainly makes no bones about it.
Here’s the thing. From what I’ve been told, Haitian radio is the main source of “news” for a large portion of the local Haitian community, many of whom are not fluent in English. They’ve been told by people like “Teacher” Carline Paul and radio “hosts” like Rothschild Anderson that they are basically ignorant about everything. The self-dubbed “leaders” of the Haitian community have a stranglehold on recent immigrants and new citizens, who look to them for guidance. Unfortunately, people who are spoon fed bullshit by those they look up to usually believe the lies. If someone is told a lie enough times, they start to believe it. Unfortunately, the cycle of ignorance is self-perpetuating.
For another thing, I’m told that radio station 1320 has never been licensed to operate by the Federal Communications Commission. If true, I’m sure the FCC would love to be informed. I’m just saying.
By throwing out the complaint against absentee ballot fraud, Judge Francis either didn’t realize or didn’t care how big the voter fraud problem is down here in south Florida. By giving “Teacher” Carline and the “Queen of Absentee Ballots” a pass, he has inadvertently given absentee ballot fraud a green light. Nothing to see here, folks, move right along.
About the case, Mr. Julien had this to say, “I understand that we did not meet our burden of proof. Our witnesses are mostly in nursing homes and we could not transport them to Leon County to testify that they did not vote. I respect the judge’s ruling and will turn over the testimony from the trial to other agencies and will let them pick up from where I stop.”
Hopefully, those “other agencies” will take our absentee ballot fraud problem seriously.
There are those political enemies of John Patrick Julien who are rejoicing at the dismissal of his case, and feel that he got what he deserved. They care little about the fact that they will now have a do nothing representative in Tallahassee in general, and one who specifically has a grudge against North Miami Beach in particular. But, they got rid of Julien, and that’s all they care about.
These people are placing personalities over principles, and they fail to look at the implications of this ruling. The bigger, and more important, picture is that by categorically denying there is absentee ballot fraud, the judge has ensured that voters here in North Miami and North Miami Beach will never be guaranteed a free and fair election. “Teacher” Carline and “Nancy” Josna will pick up where they left off – one of them “educating” the “ignorant” masses on who to cast their votes for, and the other “helping” dead people vote by absentee ballot.
In order to counteract future voter fraud, it will take citizens to step up and pay more attention to what’s going on. Sign up to be a poll watcher or a poll worker. Immediately report any suspected voter fraud, either by absentee ballot or at the polls. Stop wussing out and grow some freaking balls! To paraphrase Plato, “Those who do not involve themselves in politics end up being governed by their inferiors.”
Or, as I say, “If you’re not concerned about voter fraud, you get the government you deserve.” Hopefully, the next two years of being misrepresented by a person who quite possibly committed absentee ballot voter fraud to “win” her seat will prove to be exactly what you deserve. Remember this warning in 2013.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Stephanie, I am a Democrat and a military veteran, who is not only a Christian, but a devout leader within my faith, yet I still find the Democratic party much more tolerant than the Republican party. I have never heard Democrats refer to Republicans as being anti-American and not being patriotic. Democrats just think Republicans are selfish and money driven which is quite anti-tolerant attitudes.
However, Mr. Julien should not be surprised that he lost the election and that’s real the issue here.
When he votes with Republicans, it is a big statement not to “party leaders” but to his “own constituents” who were not pleased with his allegiance to non-democratic party principles, as it relates to the role of government , a woman’s right to choose and the funding of public education. These are the reasons he lost!
He can’t live in a Democratic-dominated district, vote like a Republican and then be upset because he lost. Even if you raise three times as much as your district opponent, if you don’t vote on the house floor, like your district …you lose!
He’s looking to blame democratic leaders, but maybe he should look to his own constituencies, who have previously supported progressive Democrats, such as former State Reps. Philip Brutus, Yollie Roberson and Ronald Brise.
The only Republican office holder in the Haitian-American community (Josaphat Celestin) has lost no less than three elections to progressive Democrats. Democrats don’t win in Cuban communites!
John Patrick Julien lost his election because his own actions and lack of proper campaigning. For him to blame “boleteros,” or ballot-brokers and democratic leaders, is a sign of him not really understanding his own community and the reality of party politics.
Sore Loser, confused loser!
This is a completely irrelevant comment to the original post.
The question is Fraud, not Democrat vs Republican. The reality of party politics is that both parties are private corporations that use their positions of power to do exactly what the powerful have ALWAYS done, maintain and grow themselves.
Try being on topic, instead of trolling.
Thank you for speaking up about this. I felt as though Bill missed the point of my column entirely. Not once did I mention party, except when I quoted the racist talk radio host, who obviously believes that all blacks MUST be Democrats and that all Republicans MUST be white. Neither is even remotely true. Outside this little bubble of south Florida, both parties are comprised of people from every walk of life and every ethnic background. When it comes to political party, neither is one-size-fits-all. There are plenty of Blue Dog Democrats who are against abortion, and there are quite a few Republicans (like myself) who are not “morals” voters. When you put people in a box simply because they have a D or an R after their names, you tend to show how narrow minded you are. That’s a pretty sad place if you ask me.
Mr. Foot:
Did you refer to Vice-President Gore as a “sore loser” or “confused loser” when he sought redress from the judiciary in 2000?
How can you say that I did not represent the district or that the constituents did not support me and neglect to mention that the primary was closed to democrats only. I managed to get 5,269 “Democrat” votes compared to my opponents 5,282. I would not say that this is rejection of my votes. What say you about the disenfranchisement of the Independent, Republican and other registered voters of House District 107? Do they not count? Should they not have a say in their elected representative? Should my vote not reflect their ideals and beliefs? The list of questions can go on and on but I wonder if it really matters.
By the way, Mr. Foot, I know the individuals you mention and, unless you are them, I do not believe you can speak to the support they may or may not have received.
All the best to you.
Absolutely! Republicans and Independents were not able to vote because your opponent scared up two write-in candidates for the sole purpose of disenfranchising us. The Miami Herald only seemed to notice this today (http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/22/3062427/write-in-candidates-can-create.html). Too little, too late. Had Republicans and Independents been able to vote in this race, Mr. Julien would have won in a landslide!
Oh, and by the way. Al Gore was a sore loser. KIDDING!!!
So Bill, I take it that you believe an elected official is to represents Party line, and not all the people of the district.
So Bill, I take it that you believe all Democrats think exactly alike. It must be one awful hell of an echo chamber you live in.
See my comment above to premitive1. Sad echo chamber, huh?
Yes, it is about fraud. Fraud is a crime. When you investigate crime, you look for a motive. In the instant case, what was the motive? By the way, the penal or criminal code is a moral code.
I also do not understand why the judge would not allow the nursing home residents, whose votes were stolen, to testify. There appears to be a bias. Hopefully Pam Bondi will not see this as a victimless crime if the State Attorney’s office chooses to look the other way.
A bias? Ya think? I also think the judge was probably frustrated that Josna refused to appear in person and gave her the go ahead just to get the trial moving. This was probably the same reason he didn’t want to be bothered to review the remaining absentee ballots, which probably had tons of fraudulent votes. No one in power really seems to give a crap about voter fraud as long as they keep getting re-elected.