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Ex-Alabama Election Official Indicted
by Michael Martinez
Former Alabama Secretary of State Nancy Worley has been indicted for violating fundraising laws last year during a failed re-election campaign.
Her attorney, James Anderson, told reporters on Wednesday that a grand jury has indicted her on five felony and five misdemeanor counts of violating state campaign law. She is expected to turn herself into authorities on Thursday.
Worley, who also is the vice chairwoman of the Alabama Democratic party, has become a lightning rod for controversy during the past year. She was in charge of the state's election system last year when Alabama was sued by the Justice Department for failing to build an electronic voter registration database by a federal deadline. A federal judge appointed Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, to be "special master" of the state's election system last summer and finish the construction of the registry. Riley effectively became the state's top election official during a year he was up for re-election himself.
Anderson told AP on Wednesday that Worley has been accused of inappropriately soliciting campaign funds from her staff last year. He downplayed the charges.
Ed Packard, a state elections division employee who challenged Worley in a Democratic primary last year, filed a complaint with Attorney General Troy King accusing her of sending her staff a letter asking for campaign donations. She said in the letter that she would not hold it against anyone on the staff who chose not to support her. Under Alabama law, it is illegal for state employees to solicit political contributions from their colleagues.
Packard included in his complaint a form attached to Worley's letter urging supporters to submit contributions of up to $1,000 to her campaign. It also included a sign-up section for volunteer work, including letter writing and door-to-door campaigning.
Worley told The Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday that the indictment is part of a Republican smear campaign, even though the complaint was filed by a Democrat. She said she does not intend to step down from her leadership post in the state Democratic Party. "It's another Republican political witch hunt," Worley said.
California Moves Forward On Health IT Front
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week signed an executive order to expand his state's use of health information technology.
The Republican governor signed an order Wednesday that calls for building a statewide electronic health information exchange system among payers, health providers, consumers, researchers and government agencies within the next 10 years. His plan calls for a working group made up of public and private stakeholders to begin meeting next month to develop a plan to modernize the state's health care system.
"By doing all of this, it will save a lot of money and it will save a lot of lives," Schwarzenegger said at a press conference with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.
Schwarzenegger said his health care plan is consistent with a White House initiative to direct federal agencies to promote the quality and efficiency of their health care programs through the expanded adoption of health IT. He said the result will be a more transparent health care system in California.
He also said faster and more reliable access to accurate health data would make the state's health care industry more competitive and improve the quality of care that patients receive.
"This will drive health care providers to perform at peak levels because access to information will boost the power of consumer choices," he said.
Leavitt said it was a big step for California to join forces with the Bush administration in promoting the acceleration of health IT, which he said allows patients to make more informed choices about the care they receive. An executive order signed by President Bush last year solidified health IT standards for federally financed providers.
West Virginia Slaps Blue Hippo With Lawsuit
West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw this week filed a lawsuit against a telemarketer over its failure to deliver computers it promised to sell to low-income customers.
McGraw accused Blue Hippo and its owners of refusing to return payments to customers who cancelled their transactions after computers they purchased were never delivered. He also sued the firm for failing to register with the state's Tax Department as a telemarketer.
The state's Consumer Protection Division took on the case in response to complaints about Blue Hippo's refund policies. The company advertised deals to allow consumers to purchase affordable, brand-name computers with regular payments from checking accounts. According to McGraw, the company does not keep computers stocked and only purchased them after customers have paid a sufficient amount of their deal to cover them. This business plan resulted in some customers waiting months to receive the computers they requested.
Prosecutors said some consumers encountered severe problems when they tried to back out of their agreements after not receiving their computers. Some of those who did receive their computers wound up paying many times what they could have spent at a retail store, investigators said.
"Consumers should always be wary of ordering merchandise in response to television infomercials," McGraw said. "Telemarketers are required to tell you their refund policy and all material terms of the agreement before they take any payment."
Missouri Bans Prisoners From Seeking Online 'Pen Pals'
Beginning June 1st, the Missouri Department of Corrections will ban inmates from soliciting pen pals on the Internet, the department announced this week.
The department acted on recommendations made by an offender fraud panel that found some offenders were using misleading Web pages to raise money online.
"During our review, we have identified numerous offenders who, through misleading Web postings and photos, have solicited thousands of dollars from individuals and have devised other creative and purposeful intents to defraud the public," said department Constituent Services Officer Lisa Jones.
All of the state's inmates have been directed to have their information removed from all pen pal sites on which they may be members. Failure to do so will be considered a conduct violation, the department said.
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