Posted on 11/05/2006 2:13:48 PM PST by rface
CLEVELAND -- After watching the 5 On Your Side investigation on dead voters, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Bill Mason said he will prosecute anyone who knowingly cast a vote in the place of a dead person.
In his report, NewsChannel5 chief investigator Duane Pohlman uncovered dozens of votes being cast from the grave, and Mason said the trouble is just beginning for whomever is responsible for casting votes in the name of the dead.
"This really is an attack on the entire system, and it's of paramount importance that we find out how this is happening and we stop it so it can't happen again, one, and, two, find out who's doing it, so we can prosecute them if possible," said Mason.
So-called "ghost voting" is a felony, and Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Director Michael Vu has already launched an investigation into the problem.
"We will investigate that, send it to the county prosecutor's office and determine what had occurred," Vu said.
Mason said prosecution is possible only if the investigation can prove intent.
NewsChannel5 compared the county's voter registration rolls with death records from the Social Security Administration, finding 12,688 people who have died but are still registered to vote.
Many of the dead voters passed away years ago, and a good number of them more than a decade ago.
Vu said slow reporting combined with federal rules require him to keep dead people in the registry.
"It's something that needs to be corrected," he said.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, stunned by what was uncovered, said he will help do the correcting.
Kucinich said the investigation has convinced him to introduce a bill to clean up all voter registration rolls and close the gap on corruption.
"One thing is for sure: There is an opening here for the commission of fraud that needs to be close," he said.
Better late than never?
Naw, let's put it off til after the 2008. The libs will need those dead voters; no one alive and in their right mind will vote for them.
I hear that in some districts the Police departments are sending cops out to the cemetaries to block the dead from voting......
Dennis Kucinich will see to it that all dead Republicans are removed from the voter lists...we can count on that.
And just exactly why are they casting a vote in place of any one, dead or alive?
Other than themselves...
Without lying and cheating, Democrats would never win.
FEMA, WHERE ARE YOU!!??? THE DISASTER IS HAPPENING AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE QUICK RESPONSE TEAMS ON SITE 10 YEARS BEFORE THE VOTERS DIED!
WHAT? YOU WERE BUSY IN LOUISIANA? THAT'S NO EXCUSE! WHAT, YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT VOTE FRAUD! THAT'S PLAIN CORRUPTION I TELL YOU! YOU'RE JUST MAKING EXCUSES FOR YOUR SLOW RESPONSE!
Send them to prison for how many years....... ten-twenty? Better yet plea bargain and send the handlers to prison. I want some one to used as an example! WE AREN'T GONNA TAKE IT! NO MORE! Enough us enough..................
What is being done with the votes already cast by dead people???
Ther fact that there are stillon the registry is not shocking to me and that in itself is not really signs of misconduct.
I am not sure how the voters are purged of dead voters in Ohio but I suspect its the same as getting rid of all in active voters.
I have never figured out why people don't ask their legislators to do a simple thing.
That is pass a law that when a coroner issues a death Certicate there needs to be two copies, One sent the the local register of voters and the other to the Secretary of State so the name can be taken off the list.
PErhaps this is being done in certain places but I have got to think that would cure all this
In Chicago it's OK. I had an uncle living in FL. He was buried in IL so he could vote forever.
"Mason said prosecution is possible only if the investigation can prove intent."
What kind of double talk is that? How could you NOT intend to do voter fraud by voting as someone you are not?
Not only ae they voting, they are answering calls from pollsters.
Didn't Vu get in trouble for this last year? Of course, he's a Dem, no mention of that in the article.
Dennis is going to lose a lot of his voters. Not too many Repubs in Cleveland.
Please ping me when this prosecutor successfully prosecutes all of these dead people
Dem voter fraud prosecuted?
Is this a stand up comedy act?
The importance of this election is far reaching.
"Rep. Dennis Kucinich, stunned by what was uncovered, said he will help do the correcting."
right after the lib/dems are declared winners!!!!
where are all of the lib/dem lawyers contesting this problem????
Do voting records indicate ANY of these individuals voted in past elections. I R-E-A-L-L-Y wonder which party they VOTED FOR? Odds?????
Come to think of it, what happened to that comphrensive study by some libs showing 650,000 dead in Iraq that was all the buzz about three weeks ago?
Please explain how one could UNKNOWINGLY cast a vote in the place of a dead person.
I have no problem with it, but my first name in combination with a very uncommon last name is, as far as I can determine, unique. Jim Smith (James Smith was, and may still be the most common name in the US) OTOH may feel differently.
" those who are dead but do not know it yet."
which is by definition "democrat" - so it's all good !
Clue me in.
What is she crying about?
Jawn Chari votes in Ohio?
That's great!! LOL
Disenfranchising dead voters "oh the humanity"
She was crying about "voter fraud" in Ohio in 2004 that denied John Kerry his birthright.
And then their are scumbag cheats that need to spend every election day (because they no longer vote) cleaning roadside stops and run down gas station toilets..
Better late than never?
Yeah, they've had 2 years (at least) to fix this problem.
Whay have they not done so?
I also would like to know how many elections they voted in after their passing, especially for the individuals who passed more than a decade ago.
Let me guess. All the "dead" voters caught have cast their votes for Dems?
Don't trust Bill Mason - I have a little story I could tell about Bill Mason, the City of Parma, a federal discrimination suit, and a promotion to Cuyahoga County's prosecutor's office. Suffice to say that Mason moved up while Parma's taxpayers got the short end of the stick.
Oh, and BTW, Mason is a dem as are most of the officials in Cuyahoga county. If not for Channel 5's investigation, it would be business (voter fraud) as usual in that county.
So Kucinich wants to purge the voter rolls but he doesn't want voters to have ID.
Yeah, ok.
Have they checked the absentee ballots? That's the preferred method of voting by the dead, and you have to admit, they are very absent.
Bettencourt is the Harris County, Texas Tax-Assessor Collector (Houston area). He has done everything he could to scrub our voter rolls clean and he's very good at his job. The Republican voters of Harris County, TX owe him a great debt of gratitude.
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