Faulkner County Justice of the Peace Mark Bailey has resigned his position on the Quorum Court weeks before the General Election following a discrepancy into an address he claimed on his filing papers.
Until today, Bailey had been a JP in District 8. He was running for re-election against Michael Yoder of the Green Party. He has served on the quorum court for 10 years.
“It has come to my attention on Oct. 2, 2012, that I do not meet the residency requirements to serve the citizens in District 8 of Faulkner County Arkansas Justice of Peace,” Bailey said in his resignation letter. “Therefore, effective immediately, I submit my resignation as Justice of Peace, District 8 Faulkner County Arkansas.
“While my name will still appear on the ballot at this late date, I encourage voters in District 8 to vote for the opposing Justice of Peace candidate.”
Bailey listed 701 Reedy Road #5 in Conway as his address, which is in River Drive Mobile Home Park. The address listed, however, does not have a home of any kind on the property.
“The residency requirements under which I previously thought qualified me prior to completing the registration to run for another term in 2012 were incorrect,” Bailey said. “I was made aware of the correct residency requirements Tuesday afternoon. This information was provided to me [from] the Faulkner County Election Commission and the Faulkner County Republican Party leadership.”
Election Commission H.G. Foster said Tuesday that the commission was powerless to take Bailey’s name off the ballot, and there was still a chance that Bailey could win the race. If that happened, there were three scenarios that could take place.
“First of all, the loser of the race could sue,” Foster said. “The quorum court could declare a vacancy and appoint a replacement and the prosecuting attorney must file a case to be reviewed.”
Foster said two issues would need to be reviewed: whether the candidate did what he shouldn’t have done in order to get on the ballot, and whether the candidate is qualified to hold office at that point.
“If someone gets on the ballot through fraudulent means, they remain on the ballot through the election,” Foster said. “Then the issue becomes whether they can hold office.” Bailey’s address on the Faulkner County website is the same as the on listed on his filing papers. It is unclear if a home sat on the site prior to his filing. Attempts to contact Bailey were unsuccessful.
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Wow. I figured ensuring a candidate lived in the district would be something that they checked out beforehand. How long has he fraudulently been serving on the QC? I wonder if any of the past close votes would have to be reviewed since he was ineligible.
This is good news for Reaganesque and Swampyville. Now they can finally get involved in Faulkner county politics since they apparently don't verify where you live.
be nice, ucantbserious
The poor guy just found out today that he doesn't have a house.
Have some compassion, man.
All he needed was a fema
All he needed was a fema trailer and a car on blocks and he would still be a JP
What an idiot.
What an idiot.
"They", whoever that is, do
"They", whoever that is, do not typically verify where a candidate's actual residence is. As noted in the article, it's up to the candidate to review their qualifications to serve the office and if they end up winning an election by fradulent means they suffer the consequences up to and potentually including jail time.
Meanwhile...
Barack Obama is hoping that the Faulkner County Election Commission and the Faulkner County Republican Party leadership don't follow up on him. ;) LOL!!!!!!!!!
Ok Hiland where are you, this
Ok Hiland where are you, this seems to be clear election fraud, Bailey putting the Reedy Rd address on his filing and signing it = perjuring himself. Oh yeah I forget Hiland is so partisan he only goes after Democrats. The Republican Party locally should be embarrassed and Bailey's excuse is a joke.
What he could have done?
He may never have been caught and served.
He could have moved in a camper.
He chose to do the right thing and for that he loses his position and get hammered here.
He did the right thing. He deserves credit because politicians usually........BLAH BLAH BLAH.
he could have done the right
he could have done the right thing when he moved back in 2010.
He is only sorry because he got outed
Hmm
'He chose to do the right thing and for that he loses his position and get hammered here.'
I call BS. The only reason he did the right thing was because someone else noticed his fraud and was probably going to report him unless he did it himself.
"It has come to my attention on Oct. 2, 2012, that I do not meet the residency requirements to serve the citizens in District 8 of Faulkner County Arkansas Justice of Peace,” Bailey said in his resignation letter.
Really? The dude suddenly realized on Oct. 2 that he wasn't living in a vacant lot? There's a surprise!
“I was made aware of the correct residency requirements Tuesday afternoon. This information was provided to me [from] the Faulkner County Election Commission and the Faulkner County Republican Party leadership.”
Basically, someone else caught him in the act and threatened to turn him in for his fraud. Only then did he decide to step down. He apparently did not have any qualms keeping up his fraudulent activities as long as no one else knew.
It's like someone robbing a store and then only turning themselves in after someone else identified them as the robber. If no one had pointed him out then he would have kept quiet about it.