| mySPIN |
 Stop the Leake
by Tom Campbell
July 22, 2010
Last week’s revelation that State Board of Elections Chairman Larry Leake interfered with the investigation into 2008 gubernatorial campaign flights signals that Leake’s effectiveness to that board and the state has ended and he must be replaced.
The State Board of Elections is, to quote their web site, “the only statutory bi-partisan, quasi-judicial supervisory board in North Carolina State government.” The Governor appoints the five members, three from the Governor’s political party and two from the opposition party, also naming the chair. This organization is charged with gathering, reviewing and reporting financial disclosure statements from candidates and administering the elections process in our state.
The citizens of North Carolina depend on the State Board of Elections to be even-handed, open and honest in elections matters. Over the years, Executive Director Gary Bartlett and the staff have earned a reputation for clean handling of election issues and the State Board itself has been exemplary in their willingness to fairly examine and recommend reprimands, penalties or further legal action for campaigns or donors who have violated state campaign laws.
Chairman Larry Leake has held his post since 1993 and has performed admirably, most especially in the Jim Black and Mike Easley investigations and hearings. But as valuable as that service has been, Leake crossed the line by interfering in the probe of campaign flights. Leake insisted on being present during interviews, something that must have been intimidating both to the investigator and the person being interviewed. He instructed the investigator to halt the probe, even though there were three further interviews desired; one was with Governor Perdue’s former campaign manager, who had himself conducted an investigation into the flights. The investigator’s final report was then edited by “supervisors,” deleting portions that noted Leake’s interference as well as notations relating to campaign flights by other gubernatorial candidates. It is hard to believe the chairman did not know about or even initiate the deletion of these observations in the published report. The fact that the investigator’s husband worked for the state Republican Party confuses the issue but also raises the assertion that partisan politics may play a greater role in this agency than is desired.
Chairman Leake did not deny the deputy director’s allegations of interference, responding only that he was trying to expedite the report, a response that doesn’t pass the smell test. For all appearances, Larry Leake seems to be trying to protect Governor Perdue while making other candidates appear less than honorable.
Whether true or not, Governor Perdue can not afford the potential scandal and our State Board of Elections cannot afford to be tainted by accusations of interference and partisan politics. Voters deserve to know that our elections process is clean, fairly administered and violations are aggressively and honestly investigated. Nothing less is acceptable. Any hint of interference or partisanship must be quickly addressed and resolved if we are to have confidence in our election process. Governor Perdue must stop the Leake. |
|
