Charges eyed in votes for Huggins

Possible criminal charges, that may include those against Statesville City Councilman Flake Huggins, could be the result of a voter challenge hearing conducted Tuesday.

The challenge against Huggins’ sister, Rhonda Williams, and her husband and son, Willie Williams Jr. and Christopher Williams, was lodged by J.D. Williams, who beat Huggins in the original election but lost to him last week in the run-off.

The Iredell County Board of Elections voted unanimously to uphold the challenges against the three, and their votes were immediately removed from the final vote tally, reducing Huggins’s margin of victory in the run-off election from 90 to 87.

But the loss of votes may be the least of the problems against Huggins and the Willie Williams family because, in addition to upholding the challenge, the Board of Elections also voted unanimously to recommend the matter to Iredell County District Attorney Sarah Kirkman for criminal investigation and possible “law enforcement action.”

The board took that added step because it felt the Williams family members were knowingly untruthful about the address they offered to elections workers when they came in to vote during the One-Stop early voting period.

Information regarding the great improbability of the family living at 1730 Jones St. came out during the hearing.

J.D. Williams presented the elections board with several documents, including a deed for the property dating back to April showing it belonged to a couple named Donald and Helen Anderson; a printout from the Statesville Inspections Department showing permit requests made by the Andersons (also from April) indicating their desire to completely renovate the home; and paperwork regarding temporary power hook-up to the home.

Code Enforcement Officer Eric Fox, with the Statesville Planning Department, testified that the house lacked a certificate of occupancy and that it would have been against the law for the Andersons to rent the house to the Williams family. 

Indeed, Fox said, that from the time the temporary power hook-up was made it has been illegal for even the Andersons to live in the house.

But to remove all ambiguity Board Member Jim Dobson asked Fox, “So to be clear, from May 5 (when the temporary power was installed) through yesterday (the last day Fox knew that the power was still in use) it has been unlawful for anyone to live at 1730 Jones St.?”

To which Fox answered, “Yes, that’s right.”

While waiting for Fox to arrive at the hearing, the board spoke to Iredell Board of Elections workers regarding Huggins’ — the Statesville City Council’s Ward 6 incumbent — possible knowledge of the matter.

Suzie Jordan testified that she had seen Huggins at the Board of Elections offices at about 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 standing next to Chris Williams while he supplied information to her prior to his casting a vote.

Jordan said that voters are asked to give their address on two different occasions during the verification process prior to voting, and that Chris Williams gave the Jones Street address both of those times.

Jordan said she thought it was odd to see Huggins at that time because she knew there was a city council pre-agenda meeting taking place then, at which Huggins was supposed to be in attendance.

(At that meeting, Mayor Costi Kutteh said Huggins had informed city staff that he had other obligations to attend to and would miss the meeting.)

Board of Elections Director Becky Galliher testified that she was also in the office at that time Huggins and his nephew were there. She said Huggins was “standing right next to” Williams and that it “would have been impossible for (Huggins) not to hear (Williams)” supply his address to board of elections workers.

J.D. Williams asked the indulgence of the board and pointed out that, while though the deadline to file voter challenges for the Oct. 11 election had long passed, all three members of the Williams family also voted for Huggins in that contest. 

J.D. Williams took that election by 13 votes and fell just five votes short of avoiding a runoff.

Still, Williams told the board, Huggins almost certainly knew the Williamses were voting for him afoul of election laws and let it happen anyway.

 “He used trickery and deceit,” J.D. Williams said. “He knew his family was voting for him and he knew they shouldn’t have been and then, on top of that, knowing what he knew, he called for a run-off election when he said he wouldn’t. I think all this shows a total disrespect, by Mr. Huggins, for the election process.”

After the hearing, Board of Elections Chairman Alan Carpenter noted that the Williams voter challenge differs from one last month involving Ward 4 candidate Sunny Laghari in a fundamental way.

“Mr. Laghari was up front and open from the start about what he planned to do,” Carpenter said. “He told Becky (Galliher) and the other elections staff that he intended on moving to the district and setting up a domicile there. It was a question of legal argument as to whether he did that or not. We felt that he didn’t. This case (with the Williams family) involves something more than that and we’ll leave it up the district attorney to decide what that is.”

Carpenter noted that One-Stop voters are also required to sign what is known as a no-excuse absentee application that states, among other things, that “I am a duly qualified voter in the precinct listed below” and “I am entitled to vote in this election.”

That application also provides the cautionary note: “Any person who falsifies this application is subject to a fine, imprisonment or both.”

It will be up to Kirkman to decide if such a fate is a possibility for the Williams family and/or Huggins. There is no timetable on that decision.

Neither Huggins nor any of the Williams family were present for the hearing. Several attempts to contact Huggins for comment regarding this matter were unsuccessful.