Politics & Government

Robinson Accused of Buying Votes

The Georgia Secretary of State's Office is investigating a complaint that Douglasville mayoral candidate Rochelle Robinson was improperly passing out hot dogs outside polling places.

Douglasville mayoral candidate Rochelle Robinson is under investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State's Office after a complaint was filed stating that she was "outside of polling places passing out hotdogs to voters."

The complaint category, according to Chris Harvey, the chief investigator for the Secretary of State's Office, falls under buying votes.

According to the complaint, Douglas County Election Supervisor Laurie Fulton called Harvey to make the complaint Nov. 8, the day of the election.

Find out what's happening in Douglasvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Robinson but failed to get a majority and is in a runoff against Harvey Persons on Dec. 6.

Harvey said the investigation will remain open until the findings can be presented to the State Election Board at its next meeting or a future meeting.

Find out what's happening in Douglasvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"There's no anticipated date for the meeting," Matt Carrothers said, spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office. "Any investigation has no required timeline. It's only complete when there has been a review of the allegations and a report of the findings."

The complaint form, filled out by Harvey, states the potential violation falls under section 21-2-570 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.).

Section 21-2-570 of the O.C.G.A. reads: Giving or receiving, offering to give or receive, or participating in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate.
Any person who gives or receives, offers to give or receive, or participates in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for the purpose of registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate in any primary or election shall be guilty of a felony.
Except as otherwise provided, any person convicted of a felony under this chapter shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.00 or imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than ten years, or both, in the discretion of the trial court, or may be punished as for a misdemeanor in the discretion of the trial court.

Read Rochelle Robinson's response to the accused vote buying, here.

A copy of the complaint is included in the photo gallery attached to this story.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here