, an assistant county prosecutor and incoming chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee, voted in two elections this year in Independence after moving to Lee's Summit in August 2003, records show. Posted on 10/17/2004 1:06:18 PM PDT by rface
A prosecutor who tried the only vote-fraud case in recent memory in Jackson County may himself have run afoul of vote-fraud laws, The Kansas City Star has found.
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Phil A. LeVota , an assistant county prosecutor and incoming chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee, voted in two elections this year in Independence after moving to Lee's Summit in August 2003, records show.
Intentionally voting where you don't live is a Class 1 election felony in Missouri, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
LeVota said he never knowingly defrauded election officials or anyone else.
“I never would even dream of doing that,” LeVota said. “Every time I ever voted, I voted from where I believed I was registered to vote and was able to vote.”
After moving to Lee's Summit, LeVota changed his voter registration to his mother's home in Independence on Dec. 1, records show. He voted in Independence on Feb. 3 in the presidential and city primary elections and on April 6, which featured Independence City Council and school board races, before changing his registration to his Lee's Summit address on June 8.
LeVota said he voted in every election and had no special interest in the two Independence elections.
When asked whether he may have committed vote fraud by returning to Independence to vote in the two elections, LeVota said there were “periods of time” since August 2003 that he did not live in Lee's Summit. LeVota said his mother owned a home in Independence near his old address and he stayed there “when I needed a place to stay.”
LeVota said he was reluctant to detail his living arrangements but acknowledged that he did not move in with his mother.
“There's a lot of different meanings to the word ‘live,' ” he said. “Did I move in, ‘Hi Mom, I'm paying rent, I'm going to live with you?' No.”
LeVota's residency became an issue after opponents to his candidacy on the county Democratic committee raised questions about it in an effort to disqualify him from the chairmanship. Missouri law requires a committee member to live and be registered to vote in his precinct at least a year before serving.
LeVota said he brought a copy of the deed to his new home dated August 2003 to prove he had lived in Lee's Summit long enough. Nevertheless, LeVota said, his political foes still are raising questions about his residency in an effort to prevent him from taking office.
Intentionally registering to vote at someone else's address also is a Class 1 election felony, said Terry Jarrett, general counsel for the secretary of state. State law sets no deadline for a voter who moves to update his registration, but it prohibits him from voting at his old polling place, Jarrett said.
Instead, a voter who moves may return to his old polling place on Election Day, tell election judges he has moved, then vote at a central election office or at the polling place by his new address, he said.
LeVota said he did not tell election judges in February or April that he had moved to Lee's Summit. LeVota said his new home was only a mile from his Independence address and he thought he was in the same precinct.
“Was I stupid not to change it? I guess I was,” LeVota said. “I didn't realize that I needed to change it. I didn't really think, not even being a prosecutor.”
Charlene Davis, Republican director of the county Election Board, pointed out that precinct boundaries do not cross city limits.
“Guess what? My back fence is the city limit of Lee's Summit,” Davis said. “Does that give me the right to vote for mayor of Lee's Summit, from the county?”
LeVota, 39, is the trial team leader in the community justice unit of Prosecutor Mike Sanders' office. LeVota has served on the county's homicide case review committee, on the death penalty review committee and in many other specialized positions.
He was among only 40 prosecutors nationwide to take part in a federal legal education project. He teaches other prosecutors about trial advocacy and cross-examination, among other topics.
In response to The Star's inquiries about LeVota, Sanders said his office would seek opinions from the Missouri attorney general and secretary of state “as to what the election codes may require in these circumstances.”
Sanders said he never had seen a similar election issue arise before, nor had several other prosecutors whom he called. Sanders said he was seeking the opinions “out of an overabundance of caution.”
“Frankly, the law is a little unclear on this,” Sanders said. “Once we get their opinions, we'll go accordingly. If it's any grade of offense whatsoever, we'll pick it out.”
Sanders said that if the case became a personnel issue, he could not talk about it. Hypothetically, Sanders said, if serious allegations arise against someone in his office, he would recuse himself.
LeVota said nothing he has done amounts to vote fraud.
“Voter fraud is when you say you live in Kansas and you don't live in Kansas,” LeVota said. “Or you register in Kansas and Missouri, something deceiving.”
As an example, LeVota cited a man he prosecuted for vote fraud.
“The guy that I personally prosecuted had been voting for five years twice on the same day,” LeVota said. “That guy knew he was doing wrong.”
Adell Hardiman, 51, a plumbing contractor, said he did not know he was doing wrong until he was arrested and put in handcuffs. After the 2000 presidential election, Hardiman was charged with four counts of felony vote fraud for voting in Kansas City and Jackson County in four elections.
“If it was wrong to vote twice, why didn't they tell me that?” said Hardiman, who owned homes in Kansas City and Blue Springs.
Hardiman said he registered to vote in Kansas City and Jackson County under the same name, age and Social Security number.
“They said I was trying to deceive, but I wasn't trying to hide anything,” Hardiman said. “It's not like I was using an alias.”
Hardiman said he had no political agenda and voted in both places only to protect his interests as a taxpayer and businessman.
Hardiman said he spent about 90 minutes in jail after sheriff's deputies tracked him down and handcuffed him at a plumbing job near 25th and Cherry streets.
He pleaded guilty to one felony count and was placed on probation. Hardiman said the case cost him “a tidy sum” of “less than $10,000” in legal fees. Hardiman was given a suspended sentence, which means that when his probation ends, he will have no criminal record.
Meanwhile, LeVota said questions about his residency and voting threatened his credibility on the job.
“My whole career is about being a prosecutor and being ethical and above board. I've never tried to defraud. I never knowingly did anything like that,” LeVota said.
But Hardiman said he also argued that his intentions were good.
“I said the same thing. It didn't do me any good, though,” Hardiman said. “They said, ‘It's against the law, sir, so it doesn't matter.' ”
Hardiman questioned what would happen if, like him, LeVota broke the law.
“I'm just curious how they're going to handle this situation,” Hardiman said. “Does the sword have a double edge? Does justice cut both ways?”
To reach Gregory S. Reeves,
database editor,
call (816) 234-4366 or send e-mail to greeves@kcstar.com.
mend it, don't end it
Ahh! The old "Depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" defense...
/sarcasm off
I love seeing the Dems eat their own!!!
I seriously doubt he really did anything wrong, unlike the guy he prosecuted, he wasn't voting twice - just in the wrong place.
KC democrats are amatuers compared to St. Louis democrats when it comes to voter fraud but this was a good try.
“Every time I ever voted, I voted from where I believed I was registered to vote and was able to vote.”
Great line. It seems to be straight from the DNC playbook. Every vote cast should be counted. Also, it cepends on what your definition of the word "live" is.
LOL, they really are not as practiced, but they are working on it.
The Dems Cheat?
http://www.odduniverse.com/voting.html
He really needs an opportunity to tell that to a judge - in a courtroom in which he does not work.
Lawyer talk, remember depending upon the definition of "Is"?
Throw this lowlife sonofabitch in jail.
Which is clearly different than saying you live in Independence when you don't live in Independence. See the difference?
Uh...people might buy it if it weren't for the fact that this is coming from a prosecutor who tried a vote fraud case in the state/county in question.
So he's a Democrat deadbeat who was sponging off his mom while comitting vote fraud.
The most interesting part of the lawyer talk is that in effect, he's saying that he did NOT "live" with his mother...so he's admitting he voted knowingly in the wrong place.
I felt a little better today when I took all those "complementary papers" the Post has been littering my yard with, put them in a box, and drove to one of their local branches and left it at the front door.
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