By Bill Grubb

ROGERSVILLE - Administrator of Elections Patricia Lumpkins said a case involving an ineligible voter who voted in Rogersville's city election has been referred to the District Attorney's office.
    Unlike all other municipalities in Hawkins County, Rogersville's charter allows city residents and non-resident city property owners to vote in a municipal election.
    "There was a gentleman, who is not a property owner, Edward Clemente, who did vote in the election," Lumpkins told election commissioners at a Monday meeting.    
    The administrator said that Clemente owns and operates a business in Rogersville, but does not actually own any real estate.
    "He assumed that if he owned a business here that qualified him to vote here and it doesn't," she noted.
    Lumpkins said after becoming aware of the situation the election office staff compared the list of voters in the June 6 election with property owners on file at the courthouse and found no other irregularities.  She also noted the one vote would not have made a difference in the outcome of any race.
    Lumpkins said she has contacted the office of District Attorney General Berkeley Bell regarding the matter.
    "I have to do that," she said, noting any violation of election laws must be reported.  "I don't think he (Clemente) intentionally did anything to violate the law."
    To avoid future problems dealing with the Rogersville municipal election Lumpkins said any individuals registering to vote will need to bring a copy of a deed proving property ownership.
    The commission also voted to verify the voter rolls in all municipalities, using the names and addresses on file.
    "We had one of the candidates in the Rogersville election say he had sent out post cards based on our list of voters and several came back.  We may need to verify our voter rolls, not just for Rogersville but for all the cities," Lumpkins explained.
    She said a postcard will be mailed to each voter registered to vote inside all municipalities.  If the postcard is returned as undeliverable it will be mailed a second time.  If after two attempts the voter can't be located, the voters name will be purged from the voter rolls and the individual will need to register again.