Belleville News-Democrat | 10/30/2004 | Irregularities found in ESL registrations

Posted on Sat, Oct. 30, 2004

Irregularities found in ESL registrations

BY PATRICK J. POWERS

ppowers@bnd.com


A high number of absentee ballots and multiple names registered to the same address in East St. Louis are raising questions about the integrity of the election Tuesday, Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka said Friday.

During a news conference outside the East St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners office, Topinka highlighted suspicious cases. The cases were discovered by Illinois Republican Party members tracking absentee ballots in the Illinois Supreme Court race between Democrat Gordon Maag and Republican Lloyd Karmeier.

'There are questions that jump up and bite you on the nose,' said Topinka, who also serves as Illinois Republic Party chairman. 'This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. This is an issue about fairness.'

It also was an issue quickly dismissed by East St. Louis Democrats.

'I don't have any concerns about voter fraud in East St. Louis,' said Charlie Powell, East St. Louis Democratic Committee chairman and 9th precinct committeeman. 'The Republicans are raising all this fuss to stymie the black voter in the black communities.'

One of the suspicious cases Topinka highlighted centered on Powell's own home.

'If I didn't think this was important, I wouldn't be here,' Topinka said.

Here are some of the findings:

• A total of 30 registered voters, most with different last names, are purported to live at 1232 Cleveland Ave. in East St. Louis. The address is registered to Oliver Hamilton, a Democrat and 20th precinct committeeman. Eleven of the voters requested absentee ballots for the election Tuesday. Hamilton couldn't be reached for comment.

• Of the 44 Democratic precinct committeemen in East St. Louis, 22 have at least three registered voters with different last names purporting to live at the committeemen's homes. Seven of those committeemen have five or more.

• One woman listed the Casino Queen, 200 S. Front St., as her home address. The same woman requested her absentee ballot be sent to a St. Louis address.

• At least 678 voters are registered for both East St. Louis and St. Clair County.

• At Powell's home, 1714 Bond Ave., 17 voters are registered. Of those, 14 cast ballots in the March primary election.

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