Exposing GOP Candidate Charlie’s “White” Lies

[Jim Wright]

Exposing Charlie’s “White” Lies
by Vop Osili on Friday, October 8, 2010 at 1:16am.
A compilation of facts, questions and conclusions on the legal case
against Republican Secretary of State Candidate Charlie White
By Kyle Cox, Campaign Manager, Vop Osili for Indiana

Timeline of documented facts
January 25th, 2007: According to Hamilton County public records,
Charlie White deeded his home at 7527 Broad Leaf Lane, Fishers over to
his ex-wife (she is currently registered to vote at this location).
Records indicate shortly thereafter, he then moves to an apartment on
Pintail Drive within his council district (district 2) and legally
changes his voter registration address to this location. At some point
prior to the November 2009 Special Election, Mr. White claims that he
moved back in with his ex-wife, but fails to properly change his voter
registration back to this address.

November 10, 2009: Mr. White, while seeking to vote in the Special
Election, verbally indicates to the poll clerk that he no longer lives
at Pintail, and states that he lives instead at his ex-wife’s home on
Broad Leaf. He is allowed to vote, utilizing a “fail safe” provision
under Indiana law (IC 3-10-11-2 and IC 3-10-12-3.4), which allows him
to vote in his former precinct while residing in another precinct. The
poll book is marked accordingly and Mr. White signs it.

February 22nd, 2010: Responding to a correspondence sent by the
Hamilton County Clerk, public records show Mr. White filled out a
voter registration “change of address” form and again affirms the
Broad Leaf address as his residence for voting.

February 26th, 2010: Mr. White closes on a newly purchased
condominium, located at 13086 Overview Drive in Fishers– roughly five
miles away from his Council district. The “sales disclosure” form for
this property show that Mr. White checked both the “primary residence”
box and the “homestead” tax exemption boxes.

May 4th, 2010: Mr. White votes in the Republican Primary, affirming to
the poll Clerk that he resides at the ex-wife’s house on Broad Leaf.
Note: As the deadline for voter registration/change of address had
passed, he could have under Indiana law, legally engaged the “fail
safe” provision again, as it legally “reset” once he changed from one
voting precinct to another (from Pintail to Broad Leaf, or Delaware 14
to Delaware 12, respectively). The poll book he signed, with “current
address” checked at the address he did not live at, is evidence that
he chose not to do so. Note: if he had declared 13086 Overview Drive
as his voting address at any time, he would have forfeited his town
council seat.

May 28th, 2010: Mr. White marries his current wife who is registered
to vote at an address near the condo he purchased.

June 19th, 2010: Mr. White accepts the Republican Party’s nomination
as a candidate for Indiana Secretary of State and files an official
“declaration of candidacy” form, citing his primary address is 13086
Overview Drive, despite being registered to vote at 7527 Broad Leaf
Lane (curiously, he uses this address as the “mailing address” on the
same form). Note: State law requires that the primary address of the
declaration of candidacy form match the candidate’s voter registration
(at this point, he was still registered at Broad Leaf). If this were
to have been discovered and reported, it could have prevented him from
appearing on the ballot as a candidate for Secretary of State.
Further, as the primary address lies outside (well outside) if
discovered, it would have triggered forfeiture of his town council
seat.

September 21st, 2010: Mr. Greg Purvis, a local Hamilton County
attorney and activist, speaks to members of the press and sends an
email communication and media advisory requesting attendance of the
media for a press conference for the following morning to discuss
matters concerning Mr. White’s “voting irregularities and voting
improprieties” Mr. White resigns from the town council the same day,
stating on the record with WISH TV reporter Jim Shella that he “made a
couple silly mistakes. I’ll learn from it. I didn’t think about re-
registering.” Note: the Secretary of State is the top election
official in the state. This is the office Mr. White is seeking and is
on the ballot this fall. This is the second time Mr. White has
“forgotten” to update his voter registration upon changing his
address.

September 22nd, 2010: Mr. Purvis holds his previously scheduled press
conference and provides members of the media and the Hamilton County
Prosecutor, Sonia Leerkamp, a letter and several public documents
detailing Mr. White’s seemingly illegal activities, stating “you
cannot be a lawmaker, if you are a law breaker,” in reference to
White.

September 23rd, 2010: Attempting to explain his illegal tenure on the
town council, Mr. White releases the following statement to the media:
“Because of my statewide campaign for secretary of state and recent
marriage, I failed to realize my new residence was outside my council
district. Once notified of the situation, I took immediate action to
correct the issue.” Note: His new address was 5 miles away from his
council district. Also of note, Mr. White is a lawyer, the Hamilton
County Republican Chairman and served as a town councilman for 10
years, assisting in drawing the very same political boundaries he
“failed to realize”.


September 27-30, 2010: Several Democrat leaders comment and call for
an investigation, including State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker, and
Vop Osili, the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State.

September 28th, 2010: Attempting to explain Mr. White’s actions to the
press, State GOP Chairman Murray Clark states “Charlie was entitled
under law to vote one last time at his old polling location.” Says
Clark, “He satisfied all the criteria to go back his old poll, his
precinct, and vote. What wasn’t done was the formality of the
affidavit, which in retrospect we wouldn’t be having this discussion
if it had been done.” Note: Mr. Clark is referencing the availability
of the use of the “fail safe” provision. There are two mechanisms
available under Indiana, one verbal, which Mr. White is documented as
using in 2009 and the other is filling out a form known as a VRG-4/12,
which is essentially an affidavit. Mr. White did neither of these two
options, but still voted illegally in a precinct he did not live in.

September 30th, 2010: Vop Osili pressures the Hamilton County
prosecutor to call for a Special Prosecutor to be appointed as well as
a Grand Jury investigation on the matter. The same day, the Hamilton
County Prosecutor agrees that there is sufficient evidence to proceed,
and conveys to the media that a Special Prosecutor will be appointed,
but doubted if any findings would be produced prior to the election.

The aforementioned facts beg the following questions:

■Does Mr. White think that we should believe that he did not know that
his address was outside of his council district when he is a lawyer,
the Republican County Chairman, and helped draw those lines over 10
years on the Town Council? Did it ever occur to him that he was
breaking the law, despite the new address being 5 miles away– not once
did he think of this– over 7 months?
■Does Charlie White expect us to believe that he was living with his
ex-wife in the months leading up to his new marriage?
■Are we to believe that Mr. White inadvertently failed to use the
“fail safe” provision, an option available to him when voting last
May, despite having used this option the previous November– and
despite on his own campaign literature stating that he has a
proficiency in election law?
■Are we to believe that Mr. White did not hear the poll clerk when he/
she asked if his ex-wife’s address was still his current address,
which is checked as “current address” on the 2010 poll book?
■Are we to believe that the soon to be remarried Mr. White did not
realize he did not live at his ex-wife’s address while signing the
poll book with his ex-wife’s address next to his name and his ex-
wife’s registration directly below his in the same poll book with the
same address?
■Are we to believe that, while driving 5 miles to his ex-wife’s
precinct, that it never occurred to Mr. White that he no longer lived
in that precinct?
■Earlier this past spring, Charlie White hosted a “house warming”
party at his new condo and invited many members of the Fisher’s Town
Council. Did it ever occur to him that this would not go unnoticed?
■Due to an Indiana law that came into effect last January, the
execution of the Homestead tax exemption requires that the address on
one’s government issued ID, i.e. driver’s license, match the address
of the residence for the Homestead address. As such, which address was
on Charlie White’s ID at the time of his voting this past May?
■If he properly changed his address on his driver’s license, why was
he not required to vote a provisional ballot when he voted at a
different address?
■If he did not change his driver’s license, why has Charlie White not
been charged with a violation of IC 9-24-13-4 (Class C infraction) for
not notifying the BMV of his new address within 30 days?
■On his declaration of candidacy form for Secretary of State, why did
Mr. White use the condo as the primary residence and his ex-wife’s
address as the mailing address?
■Are we to believe that Mr. White is just “silly” and accept that he
was “too busy” to adhere to the most basic and fundamental laws of our
state– that which allows our democracy to function– the right to
lawfully register and vote for our elected leaders? Or is it more
likely that Charlie White sought to have his new life outside of his
district, while attempting to provide the illusion of holding onto the
old life within his district and thus the income, power, and benefits
of elected office?
■Is he so arrogant as to think that the rules don’t apply to him, but
yet he seeks the power to apply the rules to everyone else?
■Does he really think that Hoosiers are going to buy the smoke screens
he throws up to distract from the real issue: That he is either a fool
or a felon– take your pick. But in either case, he is unfit to be
Indiana’s next Secretary of State.
To all of these questions, there are really only three resounding,
ethical answers that are in the best interest of voters, our state,
and the delicate fabric of our democracy:

1.Vote Vop!

2.Pass this on via Facebook and Twitter

3.Contribute to Vop’s campaign

Further, on his declaration of candidacy form for Secretary of State,
why did Mr. White use the condo as the primary residence and his ex-
wife’s address as the mailing address?