Black Caucus Supports Sen. Ophelia Ford

NewsChannel5.com
January 19, 2006

Lawmakers were at the State Capitol for a special session on Thursday. Senators were supposed to be talking about ethics, but now every senator is suddenly named in a federal lawsuit by Ophelia Ford.

Black members of the House and Senate made it clear they support Senator Ford and her federal lawsuit.

“I'm glad the federal courts stepped in because it means the process works,” said Rep. Johnny Shaw, D- Bolivar.

Tuesday night, Ophelia Ford's fellow senators voted to void her election because of questions about fraudulent voting. To save her seat, Sen. Ford filed a federal injunction to block the Senate resolution that would have overturned her election.

The courts stepped in after Sen. Ford filed the lawsuit. It lists every member of the Senate. It says when senators overturned Ford's special election they unfairly discriminated against the voters in her district.

“I think this is personal and the citizens of my district think it’s personal as well,” said Sen. Mark Norris, R- Collierville.

It goes on to say senators would deny the right to vote on account of race or color.

“I am very pleased with the court order, but I have no further comments for the media at this time,” said Sen. Ford.

If things weren't tense enough already at the capital the lawsuit only made things worse. Suddenly, senators who are supposed to be debating ethics, are defendants in a federal lawsuit.

“I'm sorry Sen. Ford feels like our constitution doesn't stand up in this and goes against the will of the Senate, but that's where we are and we're moving forward after the hearing next Wednesday,” said Sen. Ron Ramsey, R- Blountville.

Next Wednesday the court will decide whether the Senate can go ahead with plans to overturn the controversial election.

Everyone agrees there were six illegal votes cast in Sen. Ford's close special election. They include two dead people who voted and at least three convicted felons.

There are four other questionable votes form people who voted in the wrong precinct for a total of ten.

“It's not particularly unusual that we find a handful of people convicted of a felony having voted in an election. It's extraordinarily unusual that we found somebody that was dead who voted in an election,” said State Election Coordinator, Brook Thompson.

But even if all 10 illegal or questionable votes are thrown out, Sen. Ford still won by 13 votes. The big question is whether to through out ninety or more ballots that were not signed properly. Most Democrats say the senate should wait for the TBI to finish its investigation.

“I think there is more to this lawsuit than I initially believed,” said Sen. Roy Herron, D- Dresden.

The federal court will hold a hearing on Wednesday of next week. Some senators question whether they need to attend. Until that time Ophelia Ford remains the senator from Memphis.

Meanwhile, Republicans are accusing a House subcommittee of weakening the ethics plan that's being debated in this special session.

Over the past two days, the subcommittee has voted to remove a prohibition on special-interest lobbyists giving campaign money to lawmakers.

The committee also deleted some limits on contributions from special-interest political action committees. And it voted to let people serve on a new ethics commission even if they are related to political figures who would be regulated by the commission.

Democrats point out that the debate is far from over.