Melowese Richardson, an Ohio woman who admitted to having cast six votes for President Obama, is out of prison after serving only eight months of a five-year prison term.

Ms. Richardson is free because a state judge dismissed her conviction on mental health grounds, though no claims that Ms. Richardson suffered from mental health issues was made at the original trial. She was represented by Ohio Justice and Policy Center, which receives funds from George Soros.

Not only is Ms. Richardson free as a bird, but it seems that she is being lionized in some quarters:  

Last week Al Sharpton embraced convicted vote fraudster Melowese Richardson at a ‘voting rights’ rally in Cincinatti. The United States Department of Justice under Eric Holder has done nothing to Melowese Richardson 410 days after she admitted on camera that she had committed multiple federal felonies by voting six times for President Obama’s reelection.

Federal law makes it a felony to vote more than once for President.  In fact, 42 U.S.C. Section 1973i(e) subjects Richardson to twenty-five years in federal prison for her six votes for Obama.

This raises a question: What is the Rev. Al Sharpton talking about when he talks about “voting rights?” Nobody, as far as I know, tried to restrict Ms. Richardson’s voting rights, but the U.S. has always been a one per customer country when it comes to casting a vote. As far as I know, no suffrage campaign in human history has taken as its slogan, “One man (or woman), six votes.”

Thought experiment: What if Ms. Richardson had voted six times for Mitt Romney? Would the Holder Justice Department be as understanding?

Ms. Richardson was a poll worker for thirty years and yet she did not respect the system enough to prevent her from going on a voting spree:

She was convicted of voting twice in the 2012 election and voting three times — in 2008, 2011 and 2012 — for her sister, Montez Richardson, who has been in a coma since 2003. …

The judge said Richardson deserved a prison sentence, which was one year less than the maximum possible, because she has a lengthy criminal record, schemed repeatedly over five years to cast several illegal votes and used her training and expertise as a poll worker to try to evade detection.

" 'I'm Melowese Richardson. I can take the law into my own hands,' " the judge said, mocking what he believes is Richardson's attitude.

Richardson previously was convicted of threatening to kill a witness in a criminal case against her brother, of stealing, of drunken driving and of beating someone in a bar fight.

Anything short of a prison sentence, Assistant Prosecutor Bill Anderson told the judge, would be an attack on the voting system.

As a poll worker, "her job is actually to protect the integrity and sanctity of the voting system," Anderson said. "(She) is an ideologue who was hell bent on stuffing the ballot box with as many Obama votes as possible."

One might question whether Ms. Richardson’s history made her the ideal poll worker. When the story broke, the leftwing Daily Kos called her a “moronic lady”—for getting caught:

May I add that she was a poll worker who should know better that such a thing could backfire in this climate of republicans overhyping voter fraud. Why take that chance?

Why take that chance? Why did she even bother sending her absentee ballot in if she was that determined to make her vote count? Did she not know that any double voting in a state like Ohio would only make the right wingers double down in the future on such costly fights?  She even sent her grandaughter's absentee ballot in, but the granddaughter ended up voting provisionally anyway.

I don’t need to indulge in a civics lesson: none of us need to be told how important voting is. But maybe we do need to wake up and recognize that an attempt to subvert free and fair elections is sailing under the name of voting rights.

J. Christian Adam, a veteran Department of Justice lawyer, who resigned after the Holder Department refused to pursue the case against New Black Panthers accused of voter intimidation in 2008, has written extensively on the politicization of the Justice Department, had this to say:

There is a unique federal interest in ensuring voter fraud does not taint the election of the President and Congress.  Second, the federal interest in having valid elections for President and Congress remains unvindicated; Richardson walks free and is now being cheered at rallies. Last, Richardson admitted on camera that she committed multiple federal felonies and her handwriting matched the ballot applications that were sent to her house.  Game, set, match. …

And this:

Ohio Votes sponsored the rally where Richardson appeared with Sharpton.  According to their website, it is a “year-round, statewide, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) voter mobilization initiative. It galvanizes nonprofits based in low income Ohio communities to increase voter participation and join efforts for fair elections.” The umbrella organization received $1,886,723 in government grants in 2012.  The organization’s tax returns state the group exists to change “onerous voting laws” and that it focuses on “educating voters on the mechanics of how, when and where to participate in early voting for the Presidential election.” 

The IRS continues to provide the group 501(c)(3) tax exempt status despite its active role in the reelection of the President, and its embrace of election criminals.

That Ms. Richardson has become a heroine of the movement speaks volumes about the real goals of that movement.