According to County Clerk Fran Felts, the County Election Board will meet at 1 p.m. Friday, April 16 in the GAR Room on the second floor of the County Courthouse to discuss the complaint Ray Tackett filed regarding the date/time stamp on a candidate filing form admittedly hand-altered by Felts.
Tackett, an Andrews Town Board Member, said he filed the complaint after reading a HuntingtonDaily.com article in which Felts admitted to changing the official stamp on Huntington Township Board Candidate Kris Underwood’s form from Feb. 20 – a day past the filing deadline – to Feb. 19.
Felts said the incorrect date stamp was the result of a date/time stamp machine error, but the manufacturer, Widmer Time Recorder Co., said that type of error is not possible.
According to the County Election Board, this is not a public hearing, but simply a meeting to discuss and vote on whether or not further action should be taken on the complaint.
The County Election Board could decide to hold a public hearing about the complaint, transfer it to the County Prosecutor, or drop the issue.
As County Clerk, Felts automatically sits on the County Election Board, along with current members President Carmen Oswalt and Board member Carol Grove.
Felts said she is not a voting member of the board except in cases of a tie vote.
“(I vote) if there is a tie,” Felts said. “But I’ve never been asked to (vote).”
Since the board has decided to meet to discuss possible action against Mrs. Felts, It would be unethical to allow her the ability to sit on the board for the meeting. I understand that she only votes as a tie breaker, but that begs the question on how she would vote in a tie on this subject.
Since the meeting is based on allegations of altering a government document by an official that sits on the board, an outside pro-tem should be placed in her spot. Allow her access to the meeting only to answer the charges placed against her. Otherwise, it could be viewed as favoritism as well as be a possible ethics violation.