TRUMBULL COUNTY Political activists defend voter registration effort

Another hearing is set, and employees of the group will testify under oath.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A fraudulent voter registration card is probably the result of a practical joke, the regional director of a left-leaning political action group said.
At an informal hearing before the Trumbull County Board of Elections, leaders of the Mahoning/Trumbull County branch of America Coming Together Ohio insisted that errors on about two dozen voter registration cards were unintentional.
The organization has registered about 10,000 people to vote in Mahoning and Trumbull counties by sending employees door-to-door.
"We provide a public service at no cost to the taxpayers," said ACT regional field director Bill Padisak. "There was no intent on this organization's part to do anything wrong."
In May, board of elections director Norma Williams sought advice from the county prosecutor regarding a voter registration card submitted by the organization on behalf of a Niles man who informed the board he did not fill a card out.
Other problems
Board staff also found problems on other cards, including invalid addresses, duplications and questionable signatures.
The voter registration card for the Niles man was apparently filled out by an ACT employee going door-to-door in a trailer park in Newton Falls, Padisak said.
Pasidak said that a man in the trailer park passed himself off as the Niles resident, possibly as a prank.
"I don't see anything funny about it," said Nettie Ashelman, a Republican member of the board.
ACT employees who commit fraud could be prosecuted for falsification, a fifth-degree felony, said Craig Bonar, the other Republican on the board.
The board unanimously voted to hold a formal hearing at 9 a.m. July 27 and require ACT employees who turned in questionable cards to testify under oath.
Identification
People registered to vote by ACT are not required to show identification, Pasidak said. He said the group would consider adding that requirement. The employee who turned in the apparently fraudulent card for the Niles resident has been suspended, he said.
According to its Web site, America Coming Together intends to build the largest voter mobilization effort in history to defeat incumbent President Bush in November. The group has between 30 and 50 people registering voters in the Mahoning Valley.
siff@vindy.com