Editorials

The news Wednesday from Montgomery was troubling and, yes, depressing.

Former Democratic Secretary of State Nancy Worley was indicted by a grand jury on five felony counts and five misdemeanor counts of soliciting campaign funds from her employees during her unsuccessful re-election bid.

Attorney General Troy King’s office isn’t commenting on the case. Worley told The Associated Press that “nothing would surprise me when you’ve got a Republican attorney general appointed by a Republican governor.”

We will, of course, have to let this play out in court. There surely is much more to learn about this.

What we do know is that Worley’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Ed Packard, sent a complaint to the attorney general’s office that detailed how Worley supposedly asked her employees if they would be willing to help in her campaign. If this is so, it could be a violation of Alabama electoral law.

We assume that King has his ducks in a row. He’d better, for the air is thick these days with accusations at the federal level of politically motivated prosecutions and prosecutors who were punished for not pursuing Democratic politicians. We don’t need that kind of nonsense at the state level.

Still, it is worrisome that Worley, the top elections officer in the state, has been accused of wrongdoing. If there is one place you need honesty, it is in that office. Just the suggestion of it is unsettling.

An accusation of illegal solicitation of campaign funds in this case brings up other troubling electoral issues such as voter fraud, absentee ballot scams and the buying of votes — especially in the western Black Belt, where many will tell you the attorney general has been unresponsive to complaints.

We hope, in other words, King goes after all such cases with equal vigor.

Worley was not a good secretary of state. This page endorsed her Republican opponent, Beth Chapman, not because there was any sense of wrongdoing in her office but because her office was dysfunctional. She needed to go. Thanks to the voters, she went.

Her incompetence in office, however, is not at issue. It is rather her guilt or innocence. And that is what we will pay close attention to in the coming months.