Sen. Bill Ketron defended Tennessee’s new voter photo ID law in a news conference today, accusing the vice chairman of the Rutherford County Democratic Party of voting illegally for 16 years.
Ketron said the party official, Tony Pegel—who himself has been an outspoken critic of the law—was allowed to vote even though he has a felony conviction in his past.
“There’s been much in the media lately regarding the frequency of ineligible voting with many Democrats and media sources reporting that there is little or no fraud here in our state of Tennessee,” Ketron said. “This is not factual. Today we are bringing forth a prime example of ineligible voting by a ranking local Democrat official.”
But the Murfreesboro Republican then went on to explain that, on his voter registration form, Pegel actually checked the box to admit he had been a felon (according to Ketron, he robbed a convenience store) and only through the incompetence of election officials was Pegel then allowed to vote. Apparently, no one noticed he checked the box or, if they did, they didn’t care.
