A headline coming soon: “Sen. Lott OPPOSES NATIONAL Missile Defense—Fears Its Effect on Blacks and Other Minorities.”
Our recent cover story charging that South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson’s 524-vote victory over Republican challenger John Thune was the result of absentee-ballot fraud, illegal electioneering, and lax voter-identification practices has stirred strong emotions across the state. The story, based on more than 40 affidavits collected by Republicans in the days after the election, as well as interviews with both Republican and Democratic election officials, has particularly gotten under the skin of state attorney general Mark Barnett, who recently characterized it as “shoddy and irresponsible and sensationalistic and garbage.” Barnett, a Republican with designs on someday becoming governor, rejected most of the evidence of improprieties—echoing a decision by Thune, a Republican with designs on someday running tor the Senate again, not to ask for a recount. (Barnett declared that two of the affidavits were false, but they made up a tiny part of the NR story) Democrats cheered Barnett’s statements, but it hasn’t made the issue go away. In tact, new evidence has emerged that points toward more shenanigans in the election. A Democratic activist named Becky Red Earth Villeda, who was suspected of creating fraudulent absentee-ballot applications, has now been indicted tor forging signatures on hundreds of applications. And in a lawsuit against Barnett, Red Earth, says she was “operating on orders from her superiors” in the Democratic party. All of this suggests that the South Dakota situation is a mess that cries out tor investigation-and then reform Some state legislators are considering just that It’s too late for John Thune—this time at least but it might ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
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