A prominent activist has been sentenced to six years in prison for illegally registering to vote multiple times, highlighting the need for maintaining the integrity of our electoral system.
The conviction of Black Lives Matter Memphis chapter founder, Pamela Moses, serves as a clear reminder of the importance of maintaining the integrity of our voting system. The 44-year-old activist was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of illegally registering to vote six times, following her 2015 felony convictions related to evidence tampering, forgery, perjury, stalking, and theft under $500. This case highlights the potential for fraud in our electoral system, a concern that conservatives have been consistently raising.
Moses claimed ignorance regarding her probation status, asserting that she thought her voting rights had been restored in 2019.
“I did not falsify anything. All I did was try to get my rights to vote back the way the people at the election commission told me and the way the clerk did,” she said during her sentencing hearing on January 26. However, Judge Mark Ward saw through her claims, pointing out that Moses had deceived the probation department to obtain documents that falsely indicated she was no longer on probation.
He stated, “You tricked the probation department into giving you documents saying you were off probation. After you were convicted of a felony in 2015, you voted six times as a convicted felon.”
Moses’s argument that she was never informed about losing her right to vote when she pleaded guilty to the felonies in 2015 demonstrates a lack of responsibility for her actions. It’s concerning that a political activist and a University of Tennessee political science graduate would be unaware of such an important aspect of our democratic process.
When Moses attempted to run for mayor of Memphis in 2019, it was discovered that she was still on probation and should have been removed from the voter rolls. However, Memphis authorities had failed to receive the necessary paperwork, allowing her to slip through the cracks. This failure on the part of the authorities underscores the need for a more robust and diligent election administration.
The prosecution emphasized that Moses knowingly submitted false information to regain her voting rights.
“Even knowing that order denied her expiration of sentence, Pamela Moses submitted that form with her application for voter registration and signed an oath as to the accuracy of the information submitted,” prosecutors wrote. “Pamela Moses knowingly made or consented to a false entry on her permanent registration.”
Source: AWM