Cuyahoga County elections officials find more cases of potential fraud

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/10/cuyahoga_county_elections_offi_1.html

Cuyahoga County elections officials find more cases of potential fraud

Posted by Joe Guillen/Plain Dealer Reporter October 21, 2008 18:20PM

Plain Dealer file
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has referred 14 more cases of possible voter fraud to the county prosecutor.

CLEVELAND -- The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections referred 14 more cases of potential voter registration fraud to the county prosecutor Tuesday as part of an investigation of suspicious registration cards submitted by ACORN.

Each case is tied to a voter whose name appears on at least one card turned in by ACORN, a national group that led registration drives across the country. Those voters must vote provisionally on Election Day, the board decided. Unless board workers can prove the person's eligibility, their votes will not be counted.

The board voted on each case individually after reviewing copies of cards the registration department flagged as suspicious.

The problems on the cards reviewed Tuesday were consistent with others flagged previously in the investigation. Of about 72,000 cards ACORN turned in this year, election workers found batches of cards with the same name but different addresses, mismatched signatures or different Social Security numbers.

Of the cards ACORN turned in this year, more than 5,000 were missing information and could not be used. The board could not verify the address on 3,500 others. Those people will have to vote provisionally if they turn out at the polls.

The board referred four cases of potential registration fraud to the prosecutor last week. The county sheriff has subpoenaed employment records of 41 workers from ACORN's Cleveland office.

A spokesman for Prosecutor Bill Mason said the investigation is ongoing. Charges have not been filed.

After the board finished reviewing the questionable ACORN cards Tuesday, member Sandy McNair reminded the audience the cases don't endanger the presidential election because voter fraud is a different problem.

Representatives from ACORN were not at the meeting.