Tampa Bay Online

FBI Subpoenas Voter-Registration Records From St. Louis Election

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The FBI has ordered the St. Louis Election Board of Commissioners to turn over thousands of records connected with two recent elections, both tainted by allegations of vote fraud.

A St. Louis grand jury is already looking into charges of fraud in the Nov. 7 general election and the city's March 6 mayoral primary. It is examining nearly 3,000 potentially fraudulent registration cards delivered to the election board before the registration deadline for voting in the mayoral primary.

The FBI subpoena served this week seeks records concerning: ballots cast in the general and mayoral elections; voters who cast illegal ballots or were prevented from voting on Nov. 7; the roughly 15,000 people who registered to vote, or attempted to register, between Oct. 1 and March 6; and all internal board correspondence, including memos and e-mail.

The board has until May 6 to hand over the records.

City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, who ordered the grand jury probe, said Tuesday that she'd asked U.S. Attorney Audrey Fleissig to investigate the fraud allegations.

Fleissig's office declined Tuesday to comment on the subpoena or the investigation.

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2001