Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . A former elections official accused of skimming payoffs from voting machine contracts is hoping to persuade a judge to move his trial to another city. Former state elections commissioner Jerry Fowler is charged with four counts of felony malfeasance in office, four of money-laundering conspiracy and one of filing false public records.
Prosecutors contend an impartial jury can be impaneled.
Fowler was indicted in August 1999 in the midst of an re-election campaign for the office he held for 20 years. Two months later, he lost a primary election. Fowler contended he was a victim of a political vendetta. The charges stemmed from a routine audit that legislative auditor Dan Kyle's office conducted in 1998 of contracts to haul voter machines. Using information gathered by Kyle, prosecutors started their own investigation in early 1999.