Miami County probes suspected voter fraud
By
Nancy Bowman
Staff Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008
TROY — Miami County election officials Friday, Oct. 31, asked prosecutors and the sheriff's office to investigate suspected voter fraud involving at least 70 absentee ballots.
Elections Director Steve Quillen said elections staff began asking questions about absentee ballots previously set aside when several voters complained they had not received their ballots. The ballots were set aside because their envelopes were not signed by the recipients.
Election officials called those sent the absentee ballots in question, and only one voter acknowledged having received the ballot and forgetting to sign the envelope.
The election board met Friday with Prosecutor Gary Nasal, Sheriff's Capt. Dave Duchak and S.E. Sheets and Kathryn Woliung, postal inspectors from Cincinnati. The inspectors said they were asked by the Secretary of State's office to attend the meeting.
Quillen said the ballots in question appear to have been sent out between Oct. 8 and 13, primarily to the Tipp City-West Milton area, but some were to other locations.
Nasal said ballots probably were not taken from individual mailboxes. "It would seem this would be at some central point," he said.
Quillen said absentee ballots are left at the Troy post office, where officials said they then go to Dayton for processing and return to the county for delivery.
Jose Lopez, elections board member and a lawyer, said the envelopes and their ballots could be fingerprinted for evidence. Duchak said envelopes might contain DNA evidence depending on how they were sealed.
Investigators said they had no idea how long an investigation would take.
Quillen told the board the voters who should have received the absentee ballots are being allowed to vote a provisional ballot that will be counted election night. Those people have been asked to sign a statement swearing they did not receive a ballot, did not vote and did not send a ballot back to the elections office.
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