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Absentee ballots in Struthers race probed
ELECTION, SHERIFF OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE ‘ALLEGATIONS OF VOTING IRREGULARITY’
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Board of Elections and sheriff’s department are investigating “allegations of voting irregularity” in the recent primary, said Thomas McCabe, the board’s director.
The issue involves at least 35 absentee ballots that may have been illegally submitted to the board, he said. The board and the sheriff’s department are investigating who turned in the ballots and the board employee or employees who accepted them, McCabe said.
“We know it didn’t affect the outcome of the election,” said McCabe, who declined to disclose the names of those being investigated.
Those close to the investigation confirm that Danny Morgan, who lost Tuesday’s Democratic primary for a Struthers council-at-large seat, is the candidate who improperly turned in absentee ballots. Those sources also said Danielle O’Neill, a clerk at the board of elections, improperly accepted the ballots, and other employees may have taken absentee votes from Morgan as well.
Morgan was among four candidates running for three at-large seats. He finished last.
O’Neill was suspended without pay in October 2010 for three days for failing to follow an internal office policy to send ballot language to those with tax issues on the ballot. McCabe was also suspended for three days for failing to properly supervise O’Neill.
The board postponed the suspensions for almost a year waiting for the sheriff’s department to finish a criminal investigation into the matter.
As for the latest problem, elections officials contacted the Ohio secretary of state’s office and its board members Monday when it was discovered, McCabe said.
Also, elections officials have contacted most of the voters of the questionable absentee ballots. Those voters said they filled out the ballot.
There are at least 35 questionable absentee ballots, but it could be more, McCabe said.
There are restrictions as to who can submit absentee ballots. Elections employees aren’t permitted to accept absentee ballots from those not related to those who voted absentee, McCabe said.
That information is on documents taped to the elections board’s customer counter, a sign on a nearby wall at the board office and is also printed on absentee ballot applications, McCabe said.
If the person who filled out the ballot doesn’t return it to the board, others can. They are relatives of the voter including spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister, half-brother or half-sister, son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece, according to the secretary of state.
Even if the ballots are legitimate, under state law it’s illegal for someone not related to absentee voters to possess and submit the documents.