Arkansas. legislator says he ‘corrupted’ voting process

Pleads guilty to election fraud

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — A Democratic state legislator from East Arkansas who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit election fraud said Thursday he believes he “corrupted” the voting process by participating in a scheme that included destroying ballots and exchanging money and food for votes.

State Rep. Hudson Hallum of Marion told The Associated Press he planned to resign from his House seat by Monday after pleading guilty in federal court along with his father and two campaign workers. Hallum and the others said in court Wednesday they participated in a conspiracy to bribe voters to influence the outcome of special elections held last year in Arkansas House District 54.

Hallum declined to discuss many specifics in the AP interview, noting that a state investigation is ongoing, but said that he realized during his campaigns for a special election to fill the House seat that he and others had crossed a line in gathering absentee ballots.

“I didn’t initially really feel like what I was doing was wrong because I always heard that that’s what you do over here,” Hallum said. “As things started to progress, I started to realize that we were doing some things that were wrong and I just got wrapped up in the middle of things and I just turned away from it and allowed it to go on. That was wrong on my part.”