10-17-2008, 07:36 PM
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Possible voter registration fraud problems
Friday, October 17, 2008 | 6:45 PM
By Stacey Baca
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Questions have come up about possible vote fraud in Lake County, Illinois.
Local authorities say they have discovered discrepancies in hundreds of motor voter registrations. They say, in one case, someone registered a dog to vote.
"Campaigns and candidates need to realize that things can be wrong. We can't say with assurance that all the people in our voter rolls are valid residents at the address where they are registered," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander.
Helander wants to get on the record before Election Day. She says there has been an unprecedented number of problems with the mail-in voter registration cards. The clerk also says registering by mail is based on an honors system, a system that has been breached in Lake County.
"I believe we're seeing the full blossom of this potential showing itself. There has been misappropriation, but this level is shocking," Helander said.
The clerk says she has seen various problems. For example, deceased voters have been revived. Residents who are not even eligible to vote have received cards. On one card, a person wrote, "cannot vote - not a US citizen." Another card had a voter named Princess. It turns out, 'Princess' is not only dead, but Princess was a goldfish. When asked about race or ethnic group, another person wrote canine. And these are the cards that were caught. The clerk is worried about the ones that weren't.
"I'm concerned because we don't how many people have come to register who don't live in at an address and they have a good address in Lake County, but we don't know if they live there or not and we mailed them a card," said the clerk.
In the meantime, workers are swamped dealing with all the voter issues. There are nearly 389,000 voters in Lake County, and since Monday, 16,000 of them have decided to vote early.
"That's what I'm doing today. So it's my way of avoiding a lot of confusion and hectic times ahead over the next few days," said Steve Shockley, early voter.
Possible voter registration fraud problems
Friday, October 17, 2008 | 6:45 PM
By Stacey Baca
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Questions have come up about possible vote fraud in Lake County, Illinois.
Local authorities say they have discovered discrepancies in hundreds of motor voter registrations. They say, in one case, someone registered a dog to vote.
"Campaigns and candidates need to realize that things can be wrong. We can't say with assurance that all the people in our voter rolls are valid residents at the address where they are registered," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander.
Helander wants to get on the record before Election Day. She says there has been an unprecedented number of problems with the mail-in voter registration cards. The clerk also says registering by mail is based on an honors system, a system that has been breached in Lake County.
"I believe we're seeing the full blossom of this potential showing itself. There has been misappropriation, but this level is shocking," Helander said.
The clerk says she has seen various problems. For example, deceased voters have been revived. Residents who are not even eligible to vote have received cards. On one card, a person wrote, "cannot vote - not a US citizen." Another card had a voter named Princess. It turns out, 'Princess' is not only dead, but Princess was a goldfish. When asked about race or ethnic group, another person wrote canine. And these are the cards that were caught. The clerk is worried about the ones that weren't.
"I'm concerned because we don't how many people have come to register who don't live in at an address and they have a good address in Lake County, but we don't know if they live there or not and we mailed them a card," said the clerk.
In the meantime, workers are swamped dealing with all the voter issues. There are nearly 389,000 voters in Lake County, and since Monday, 16,000 of them have decided to vote early.
"That's what I'm doing today. So it's my way of avoiding a lot of confusion and hectic times ahead over the next few days," said Steve Shockley, early voter.