Secretary of state says local judges erred in election

By JIM SUHR, Associated Press, 07/25/2001 02:15 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Court orders issued in the city and St. Louis County improperly allowed 1,233 people to vote during last November's general election, Secretary of State Matt Blunt said Wednesday in pressing the need for Election Day reform.

Troubled by other evidence that votes were cast locally Nov. 7 on behalf of at least 14 dead people, Blunt said irregularities by those able to manipulate the system ``cast a shadow'' over the state's election practices and undermine confidence in the process by lawful voters.

``When illegal votes are cast, it dilutes the power of every legal vote,'' Blunt, the state's highest election official, said in releasing his 47-page ``Mandate for Reform: Election Turmoil in St. Louis.'' ``I think this is one more piece of evidence of the need for election reform.

``If people don't have confidence in the election process, you really can't expect them to participate.''

The 1,233 allowed to vote through court orders gave reasons in affidavits that don't satisfy requirements of Missouri law, meaning the judges should not have allowed them to vote, Blunt said. In contrast, he said, fewer than 50 court orders were issued in Kansas City and Jackson County.

Reasons cited in voter affidavits that won them court orders to vote were ``often absurd,'' Blunt said. ``I am deaf. Wal-Mart work OK,'' Blunt said one reason read. ``Missed deadline, never registered before,'' read another. On another affidavit, an applicant called himself a temporary St. Louis resident.

Blunt stopped short of saying whether he believed judges broke the law by issuing any of the questionable orders, saying he'll leave that to local, state and federal authorities to decide after reading his findings.

``My hope is that every intentional violation of the law will be prosecuted,'' said Blunt, noting he was not a lawyer.

Blunt also declined to say whether he thought the outcomes of any races were influenced by questionable ballots cast, including 62 by federal felons and 52 by state ones. Other evidence suggests 45 people voted twice, and that unqualified election judges were used, Blunt said.

Audrey Jones, chairwoman of the city's Board of Elections, sat in on Blunt's news conference but declined to discuss it afterward, saying she had not yet had reviewed Blunt's report. She deferred comment until after a Friday teleconference that will feature discussion about Blunt's findings.

Blunt's office determined that 15 of the 357 court orders issued in the city and 20 of the 911 orders issued in the county on Nov. 7 complied with state law.

Blunt said most of the improper orders were granted to people who acknowledged that they had failed to register by the Oct. 11 deadline.

State law allows voters to obtain court orders if they were improperly knocked off the registration rolls, or if they were registered but moved elsewhere in the state after the registration deadline.

Only nine court orders were granted for the city's March mayoral primary, which was closely watched by state and federal monitors.

Blunt said that disparity in court orders ``says something.''

A local grand jury also is investigating nearly 3,000 fraudulent registrations delivered before the Feb. 7 mayoral race deadline.

In the November election, a judge ordered the city's polls to remain open past the closing deadline but was later reversed. Republican Sen. Kit Bond has accused Democrats of conspiring to break the law by trying to extend voting hours in an effort to encourage ineligible voters to cast ballots.

In a statement Wednesday, Bond credited Blunt for a ``powerful report'' and said ``clearly, we now have even more evidence of an Election Day conspiracy to steal political power from legal voters in St. Louis city and county.''

``This report confirms the sad history of tolerance for vote fraud'' in the city and county,'' Bond said. ``We cannot and should not tolerate a continuation of this tradition.''

AP-CS-07-25-01 1422EDT

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001