Despite Conviction Former GOP director won't lose right to vote in N.H
A former state Republican Party official who tried to stop Democrats from getting to the polls two years ago won't lose his right to vote under New Hampshire's constitution. Chuck McGee, the party's former executive director, pleaded guilty last month to jamming Democratic phone banks on Election Day 2002. The state's constitution contains a provision that disenfranchises anyone convicted of violating state or federal election laws. But Secretary of State William Gardner has ruled that McGee pleaded guilty to federal statues that are "generally" criminal offenses, not election law violations. His ruling was in response to a letter from David Fischer, a state prison inmate who unsuccessfully challenged his own loss of voting rights while incarcerated. Fischer had asked for clarification of how the provision applied to McGee.
McGee was accused of arranging to have hundreds of hang-up calls made to phone lines installed to help voters get rides to the polls on Nov. 5, 2002.McGee, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make anonymous calls with the intent to "annoy or harass" the recipients, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. [
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