Thursday, June 22, 2006
Twelve more petition circulators are being questioned by elections officials.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Two people who signed their names as circulating nominating petitions to place Randy Walter's name on the ballot for Congress have "incriminated themselves," a Trumbull County elections official says.
Craig Bonar, elections board member, said Wednesday that the disclosure to Trumbull County election board staffers has resulted in throwing out 107 more signatures. Bonar explained that one who acknowledged signing a petition as a circulator didn't solicit any signatures. Another admitted falsifying signatures.
"It's opened up a can of worms," said Bonar, chairman of the Trumbull County Republican Party.
Two other people who signed their names as circulators have taken the 5th Amendment against self incrimination rather than answer questions about irregular signatures on petitions they were supposed to have circulated.
Earlier this week, the cases of Georgene Mummey of Poland and Patrick Vannetti of Howland were referred to the Trumbull County prosecutor for criminal investigation. Elections officials say some signatures on the petitions they claim they circulated don't match those on election records.
As part of the probe, Bonar said, the prosecutor's office asked that 12 of the circulators who had the most signatures on petitions be interviewed by election board workers. "Two have self-incriminated themselves to the staff," he said.
Kelly Pallante, Trumbull elections board director, said Wednesday that the staff is continuing to review signatures on the petitions.
Candidacy and problems
Walter, of Canfield, is seeking to be placed on the November ballot as an independent candidate for the 17th District congressional seat. He would oppose incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Niles Democrat.
Of the 3,460 signatures filed by Walter, about 30 percent have been disqualified in Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage and Summit counties.
Walter has said that he doesn't condone election fraud and isn't responsible for it.
Because of the large number of signatures that Walter filed, Bonar predicted that enough petitions will be certified to place Walter's name on the general election ballot.
Bonar said the two people who have incriminated themselves haven't been subpoenaed by the elections board. That will be determined by the four-member board at an official meeting, he added.
yovich@vindy.com