Attorney General Jackley has created a nightmare.
Under the guise of “protecting the integrity of the election process”, he successfully over-prosecuted Annette Bosworth for twelve felonies on minor petition violations.
Jackley’s own integrity is now on trial.
Allegations have been made that one of the Bosworth accusers, Rep. Steve Hickey, is guilty of the EXACT same petition violations. Perhaps the only difference is that he wasn’t on a missions trip at the time of the alleged violation. Several (not just one or two, but SEVERAL) registered voters who signed Hickey’s petition have stepped forward to say he was not present when they signed his petition, but he still signed the oath that he witnessed them signing.
Hickey’s memory isn’t clear on the situation. The recall of the signers isn’t so fuzzy. 
Several city officials have no recollection of Hickey being at the meeting where the signatures were collected. One official has never seen Hickey at a Hartford City Council meeting. She had this to say, “I’ve never met the man a day in my life. He absolutely wasn’t there when I signed it.” The minutes of the meeting do not show Hickey was present.
This may prove to be problematic not only for Rep. Hickey, but also Attorney General Marty Jackley. At this point, Jackley has not sent the director and assistant director of the DCI in their “brown” Tahoe to “interview” anyone. His response has been that he ‘doesn’t have a complaint’ on the alleged violations. How convenient for him. He shouldn’t hold his breath though. Someone is sure to file a complaint. Thus begins the nightmare for Marty Jackley.
Will he prosecute Rep. Hickey on multiple felony charges? That would not be popular with the Republican elite. His other options will be to ignore, dismiss or prosecute on lesser charges. THAT would be a double standard, and certainly viewed as a breach of HIS integrity. No good choices here.
That, however, may not end the nightmare for Marty Jackley. Will others step forward to complain that their signatures were not properly witnessed on other petitions for other politicians? Will someone begin an investigation of the petitions of John Thune, Mike Rounds, Dennis Daugaard…. I’ll say again, I am not suggesting that ANY politician should face felony charges for these petition violations. Neither should have Bosworth. This entire horror show is the making of one man, Marty Jackley. One can envision an entire new wing in the state prison for “petition violators”, if Jackley is to maintain his integrity as a “protector of the election process.”
Marty Jackley is now on trial.
***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
“It’s not about right or left, it’s about Right or Wrong.”
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I know of several cases where people notarized something where they did not witness the signing of the petition or absentee ballots. I also wonder what charges will be filed against Joop Bolen and when it will happen? It is too bad when a party has the ability to govern at will, as their actions cause people to think all politicians are crooks, which causes political apathy.
I learned a lot of things that have been done wrong in our petition process during the Annette Bosworth trial. I have signed many petitions and I have NEVER been asked to show my ID. They simply ask are you a registered voter in a given county and ask what political party you are registered with if it applies. Again, no petition circulator has ever asked me for an ID to prove who I say I am. Are all of these petitions invalid???
Anyone who has dealt with Steve Hickey knows that he is a very arrogant man and a hypocrite.
His ugly comments about Gordon on blogs and Facebook earned my disgust for him a long time ago.
While I cannot defend Annette for what she did, I did/do believe that it was selective enforcement on Jackley’s part.
Hickey and Peters are Daugaard cronies. Of course Marty Jackley is going to him and haw about doing anything to two of SD’s biggest RINO cronies.
Shame on Steve Hickey for his hypocrisy and for being such a willing tool.
I distinctly remember signing a primary petition for Herman Otten for Tea area state rep.(dist. 6) at the Dakota Events Hall. Herman was not present(he was in the building but did not see me sign petition) as the clip board was passed around the event as it normally is. This happens all the time Gordon!
I am assuming you mean Ernie Otten….I think it might be one reason for the deafening silence of office-holders, they know that THEY have done the same thing, and don’t want to face felony charges.. In the Otten case, he may not have been the one who signed the oath that he witnessed the signatures, it may have been another “circulator”. Whoever was the “circulator” would be guilty if they didn’t personally witness each signature.