Henry E. Petersen was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Assistant Attorney General during the Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 and Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

 administrations. Petersen conducted many of the Watergate

Watergate scandal

The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...

 questionings and was perhaps the only one conducting research into allegations of modern time US voting fraud as early as the 1970s.

The violation allegedly occurred during the September 1970 Florida primary elections

United States House election, 1970

The U.S. House election, 1970 was an election for the United States House of Representatives held on November 3, 1970, in the middle of President Richard M. Nixon's first term. The President's Republican Party lost seats, in this case a net of 12, to the Democratic Party, which thus increased...

 when Kenneth Collier, later a co-author of the book "Votescam", was a candidate for U.S. Congressman running against the incumbent Claude Pepper

Claude Pepper

Claude Denson Pepper was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. In foreign policy he shifted from pro-Soviet in the 1940s to anti-Communist in the 1950s...

on the Democratic ticket.

Background

The elections were alleged "rigged" because immediately after the polls closed, Miami television stations predicted the final vote percentages of each candidate and the projected vote totals. The television stations' predictions were allegedly 100% accurate. Professor Ross Beiler of the University of Miami and Mr. Elton Davis of the Cavanaugh Computer Corporation apparently programmed the computers for the Miami television stations which predicted the election outcome. The Colliers allege Beiler and Davis participated in a scheme to rig the above mentioned primary. Statements obtained from the Colliers regarding their allegations have been forwarded to the Criminal Division which has requested Beiler and Davis to be interviewed to ascertain their possible involvement in alleged scheme to rig this election. If either Professor Beiler or Mr. Davis acknowledges that he did participate [sic] in rigging this election, the Bureau should attempt to ascertain the manner in which this rigging was effected, for what purpose it was effected, and who directed that the election be rigged.

ACTION: Departmental Attorney Craig C. Donsanto was contacted and advised as a matter of courtesy It is recommended the Crime Records Division advise Congressman Pepper that at the specific request of Assistant Attorney General Henry E. Petersen, Criminal Division of the Department of Justice an investigation has been instituted. (End of memo)

External links

224 - Letter Accepting the Resignation of Henry E. Petersen as Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division. November 5, 1974:

• http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4548
• http://watergate.info/sussman/reviews.shtml
• http://www.constitution.org/vote/votescam07.htm