East St. Louis vote fraud update

Election day in 2004 and the weeks leading up to it were an exciting time in East St. Louis, Illinois, as they had been in previous years.

The longtime tradition of the ESL Democratic party paying voters, supplemented with cigarettes and alcohol, to vote the "right way" was enthusiastically carried out by party chairman Charlie Powell and several others that fall.

Yesterday a federal appeals court affirmed the convictions of those involved with the conspiracy. However, Chairman Powell's sentence was vacated by the court, and he will be re-sentenced. Federal prosecutors claimed the federal district judge misinterpreted the guidelines when he dished out Powell's punishment.

The case heads back to district court, and Powell may end up with a longer prison stay. Currently he's being incarcerated at a federal prison in Marion, Illinois.

Free elections are considered a sacred right of any democracy. Those who violate this benefit of living in such a society deserve a harsh sentence.

H/T to Cal Skinner of the McHenry County Blog.

Related Marathn Pundit ESL vote fraud posts:

E. St. Louis hires two ex-cons with vote buying convictions
East St. Louis vote fraudster found guilty of improper asbestos removal
Convicted vote thief joined by top local Dems at his pre-prison going away party
East St. Louis blues

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E. St. Louis hires two ex-cons with vote buying convictions

Vote fraud is a serious problem in this country, and the bald truth is that most vote fraud is committed by Democrats.

Shortly after the 2004 general election, federal investigators began looking into allegations that the East St. Louis Democratic Party was paying voters $10 to vote "the right way" on election day.

Several East St. Louis officials were convicted fro their roles in the scheme. Two have served their sentence, and have comfortably found work--with the City of East St. Louis.

From WQAD-TV:

Sheila Thomas apparently has been hired recently as a part-time city secretary, and Jesse Lewis was brought on as an inspector in the city's Department of Regulatory Affairs.

Both were sentenced last year to prison for their roles in a scheme to pay local voters to cast ballots in the 2004 general election.

Now, Councilmen Delbert Marion and Roy Mosley say the two betrayed the public trust and shouldn't be back on the city's payroll.

Mayor Alvin Parks says he's all right with the hirings.

Some lucky voters, in addition to receiving cash, also got liquor and cigarettes to exercise their right to vote.

Related Marathon Pundit posts:

East St. Louis vote fraudster found guilty of improper asbestos removal

Convicted vote thief joined by top local Dems at his pre-prison going away party

East St. Louis blues

Hat tip to Cal Skinner at the McHenry County Blog

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One Teamster officer, three former Teamster employees indicted on election fraud charges in Chicago

I'll say it again in the land of the free, use your freedom of choice. Devo, "Freedom of Choice," 1980.

But will workers really have "Freedom of Choice?"

Organized labor, through the Democratic Party, is trying to enact something into law with the deceptive name of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Workers hoping to unionize will be able to, if the bill becomes law, choose to join a union by signing a card--bypassing one of the most sacred foundations of American society--the secret ballot. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in the spring, but it faces a doubtful future in the Senate. If it somehow makes it out of the Senate, President Bush vows to veto the bill.

Opponents of the bill have raised the valid (to me) concern that workers, via the card-signing option, could be bullied into voting in favor of joining a union. In other words, their freedom to make a choice will be taken away from them by the "Employee Free Choice Act."

Unions have been hemorrhaging members since the 1950s, mostly because fewer Americans work in manufacturing jobs. However, government workers being an exception, workers have been less willing, via the secret ballot, to say "Union, Yes!"

The "Employee Free Choice Act" is an attempt, a desperate one, to if not reverse that trend, at least slow it down.

Can union officials be trusted to run an honest "free choice" card signing? Based on the alleged actions of three former Teamster Local 743 employees and one current officer from that local, I have my doubts.

That local, by the way, has a long history of corruption. For more, read this story from not the Wall Street Journal, but the Socialist Worker Online.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Teamsters Local 743 officer and three former union local employees were indicted on federal charges of stealing ballots in an effort to rig two elections in favor of an incumbent slate of officers in 2004, according to the U.S. Justice and Labor departments.

In two closely-contested elections just months apart, the defendants and others allegedly diverted to their friends, family and confidantes hundreds of mailed, official ballot packages intended for delivery to Local 743 members, then cast the ballots or caused them to be cast to ensure election of the incumbent slate, the indictment alleges.

Local 743 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, based in Chicago, represents more than 12,000 members engaged in warehouse, office, medical, service and other industries, and is one of the largest Teamsters locals in the country.

The seven-count indictment was returned Thursday by a federal grand jury, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. All four defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by depriving Local 743 of their honest services and to embezzle, or steal, the official ballots, the release said.

Organized labor is not a good environment to exercise "Freedom of Choice."

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ESL vote fraudster found guilty of improper asbestos removal

Well, I broke down in East St. Louis. Tom Waits, The Train Song.

When people commit vote fraud, it's not a difficult leap of logic to assume other crimes may have been committed. Such is the case of Charles Powell Jr.

Earlier this week the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Powell was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for his role in the improper disposal of asbestos of a landmark East St. Louis building. Powell was on the town's city council at the time.

Powell is already is prison for taking part in a vote-buying scheme during the 2004 elections while he was chairman of the East St. Louis Democratic Party.

H/T to Cal Skinner at the McHenry County Blog.

Related Marathon Pundit posts:

Convicted vote thief joined by top local Dems at his pre-prison going away party

Two more in East St. Louis vote-fraud case sentenced

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Don Gordon v. Joe Moore vote fraud suit proceeds, moves to discovery phase

In a ruling given late this morning, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Marsha D. Hayes refused the request by Alderman Joe Moore's attorneys to dismiss the Don Gordon's lawsuit against the 49th Ward incumbent in which Gordon alleges vote fraud took place on a level significant level that warrants overturning the results of April's run-off election.

The borders of the 49th Ward roughly match that of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Regular Marathon Pundit readers know that Moore has sought to make a national name for himself by trumpeting such causes as the Iraq War, Wal-Mart expansion and the banning of the goose liver delicacy foie gras in Chicago. On that last one, according to an e-mail sent to me by Jake of the Freedom Folks--he's a chef--about a dozen restaurants among the thousands of eateries in the nation's third largest city served foie gras.

Meanwhile, as Tom Mannis reports on Rogers Park Bench, Moore is not a good steward of his ward--basic needs of his constituents go unfulfilled. The Broken Heart of Rogers Park has corroborating evidence.

The case goes on to the discovery phase.

Moore is a former City of Chicago attorney, and can't too feel comfortable being on the other side of the legal microscope. When you're used to being in power, it's painful being in a situation where you can be powerless.

A Chicago election has never been overturned by the courts. But stranger things have happened. After all, two years ago, a Chicago baseball team, the White Sox, won the World Series.

Voter49 has a lot more.

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Breaking: Lawsuit alleges vote fraud in last week's 49th Ward election

A huge, huge hat tip to Tom Mannis of Rogers Park Bench, one of those bloggers who are on their way to making Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhodd the capital of blogger-dom.

From a press release posted at RPB:

49th Ward Vote Fraud Release - April 24, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact: Michael Harrington 773-262-9473

Mike Pilarz 312-943-9100

ROGERS PARK RESIDENTS CHARGE FLAGRANT
VOTE FRAUD IN 49TH WARD ALDERMANIC ELECTION

Voting Rights Hijacked In Aldermanic Election: Votes Cast for the Elderly,
Voters Registered At Abandoned Buildings, And Repeat Voters

CHICAGO, April 24, 2007 – “Vote fraud has taken away the voice of our community and it hurts us all,” a group of 49th Ward residents said today as they announced a lawsuit to contest the results of last week’s aldermanic election.

“As citizens we have a right to fair and clean elections. The violations that happened last week profoundly impact every one of us. We are outraged by the dirty tricks and illegal campaign tactics that occurred in many polling places in our ward,” said community activist Eva McCann. McCann is a plaintiff in the lawsuit along with community residents Blane Roberts, Eileen Foxman, and 49th Ward Aldermanic Candidate Don Gordon.

A lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by the group on Monday cited numerous examples of vote fraud in the Tuesday, April 17, runoff election. They include elderly nursing home residents who were illegally assisted in voting, voters whose home addresses turned out to be vacant buildings, and voters who were issued two ballots instead of one. The group announced their lawsuit at 7724 N. Ashland Ave., an abandoned apartment building where a person identified as Delores Young claimed to be registered and was allowed to cast a ballot on April 17.

“We have confirmed multiple cases of votes cast by people whose addresses turned out to be vacant buildings and by people from outside the ward. We have an obligation to uphold the voting rights of the citizens of Chicago whose honest ballots were potentially negated by fraud,” said McCann. She noted that voters’ rights to a fair election were also “hijacked” when polling place election judges in numerous precincts denied requests to verify questionable voters and “systematically ignored” election laws.

Gordon, a 30-year community resident, said, “The mood in our ward has changed from concern over the outcome of the election to a more fundamental concern about getting a fair election in the first place. As a candidate, I didn’t sign up to lead a battle against violations of basic voting rights. But as a voter I will stand up for this.” He added: “Although an investigation will determine more facts about this election, we already know there is no doubt that its integrity is in question. I want to make sure that every voice is heard.”

According to the Chicago Board of Elections, Moore received 4,019 votes to Gordon’s 3,772, a 247-vote difference.

Co-plaintiff Roberts stated: “We have heard outrageous claims that our call to investigate vote fraud is racially motivated. That is simply not the case. Instead, the election has made us more aware than ever before of how race and class have been used to divide our community and keep us from focusing on real community issues.”

The plaintiffs called on Alderman Moore, government officials, and Chicago’s civil rights leaders to support the lawsuit and join in the call for an investigation.

“We expect people in public office to take a stand and help guarantee fair and clean elections. This is of far greater importance than a simple aldermanic election, and we call on everyone involved to join us in the investigation so that we can preserve basic voting rights for the future of all of Chicago,” Roberts said.

“We would not be here were this a simple matter of election error,” said McCann. “We have considerable evidence that points to a pattern of conspiracy, and more evidence will be presented as we move forward with this investigation.”

The residents, represented by Attorney Michael Lavelle, a former chairman of the Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners, are contesting the 49th Ward election results and seek an investigation into allegations of vote fraud violations and conspiracy to commit vote fraud.

SUMMARY OF 49th WARD ELECTION LAWSUIT CHARGES

1. Elderly nursing home residents who were “assisted” in voting without formally agreeing to be assisted as required by law (in Lake Shore and Sherwin Manor nursing homes)
2. Polling place judges who refused to obey Chicago Board of Elections guidelines requiring that questionable voters be given provisional ballots (in Precincts #11, 34, and more)
3. Votes cast by people registered to vote at vacant buildings and vacant lots
4. Polling place electioneering (at Arbour Health Care Center, 1512 W. Fargo Ave.)
5. Precincts where more votes were cast than there were voter applications (in Precinct #11 and others)
6. Precincts where voters were given two paper ballots instead of one (in Precinct #5)
7. Voters who cast ballots during the Early Voting period and again on the April 17 Election Day.

For additional information contact Citizens to Elect Don Gordon at 773-262-9473.

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