Text 3847, 121 rader
Skriven 2004-10-20 21:45:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Fraud
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http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/20/loc_fraud20.html

Thousands of new-voter cards in Ohio undeliverable 


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By Jim Siegel
Enquirer Columbus Bureau


COLUMBUS - Thousands of cards mailed by county election boards to newly 
registered voters in Hamilton County and throughout the state are being 
returned because the people can't be found.

John Williams, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, said 
the situation indicates that there might not be as many new voters as 
some expect in a state deemed crucial in the presidential election.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett on Tuesday said it's a 
result of statewide registration fraud conducted by independent groups 
that support Democratic candidates.

"By most accounts, their work can only be considered sloppy, haphazard 
and, in some cases, downright illegal," Bennett said, noting that the 
state party plans to take out full-page ads in Ohio newspapers 
encouraging citizens to stop voter fraud.

Democratic Party spokesman Dan Trevas said the fraud uncovered in Ohio 
equates to "minor errors" when viewed in the bigger picture.

"The vast majority of those registered for the first time are intent on 
voting," he said. 

Bennett cited instances in 10 counties where potentially fraudulent 
voter registration forms were submitted.

He said many were submitted by groups he terms "auxiliaries of the 
Democratic Party": the Association of Community Organizations for Reform 
Now (ACORN) and America Coming Together.

The groups paid people to register voters. Some registrations were 
filled out for dead people, some contained fake addresses, and others 
named fiction characters such as Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins.

Jess Goode, spokesman for ACT in Ohio, has denied wrongdoing by his 
group. He said the Republican Party is scared of the number of new 
Democratic voters headed to the polls in two weeks.

An estimated 7.9 million people have registered in Ohio, up from 7.1 
million at the beginning of the year. 

Williams is currently investigating fraud by someone working for ACORN 
who he said submitted voter registrations for about 35 people who don't 
exist.

Newly registered voters in Hamilton County are mailed a card telling 
them where to vote and what political districts they live in. But 
thousands of those cards were returned because the people, or the 
addresses listed on voter registration forms, couldn't be found.

"There is quite a number," Williams said, noting that not every returned 
card is a suspected case of fraud. "People do actually move.''

State GOP records, confirmed by Williams, show that through Oct. 4, 
Hamilton County mailed 63,403 cards to new registrants, and 4,152 were 
returned - a rate of 6.6 percent.

The number was third-highest in the state behind Cuyahoga County's 
14,461 and Franklin's 6,917, according to GOP records. In Butler County, 
255 cards mailed to new voters were returned, while 24 were returned in 
Warren County, according to GOP records. Clermont County numbers were 
not available.

Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party and the 
county elections board, said an updated number of cards returned is 
5,808 out of 150,000 mailed not only to new voters, but also to those 
changing addresses, for a return rate of less than 4 percent.

Burke said fraud makes up a small percentage of the hundreds of 
thousands of newly registered voters in Ohio.

"I think Republicans are attempting to justify what they intend to do on 
Election Day by raising questions of voter fraud and overplaying this," 
he said.

What both the Democratic and Republican parties in Ohio intend to do is 
use a 51-year-old law that allows them to place challengers at polling 
sites. The parties are recruiting lawyers, law students and others to 
ensure that people are allowed to vote, or to potentially challenge 
voters' eligibility.

Bennett said his efforts are likely to focus on heavily Democratic areas 
where many new voters have been registered. Democrats expect to match 
the effort.

As further evidence of registration fraud, Bennett said the Ohio 
Republican Party sent out its own letters to newly registered Ohio 
voters, encouraging them to vote Republican.

In the counties where new registration was highest, 3 percent to 9 
percent of the letters were returned because the people were not 
located.

"I can say ... as someone who's been in state politics for 40 years, 
that the normal rate of return is less than 1 percent," he said. "These 
results are really unprecedented and frightening."

Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, joined 
Bennett Tuesday and said Ohio's issues of voter registration fraud cases 
are alarming and part of a national problem.

"Whether it's for profit motive or political motive, fraud is being 
committed in the registration process in a way that makes more possible 
fraud on Election Day," he said.

"I'll bet you this. If Mary Poppins and Dick Tracy vote on Election Day, 
they'll vote for John Kerry."
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