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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (261542)	6/6/2002 10:27:58 AM
From: PROLIFE	Respond to of 769670

In fact, this situation came about as part of a systematic GOP plan to harass minorities quit being an idiot...or MORE than normal at least.

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (261542)	6/6/2002 10:38:43 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Thursday, November 9, 2000 Bond calls for investigation of St. Louis voter fraud claims ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Republican Sen. Christopher Bond said Thursday that he has asked federal attorneys to investigate allegations of voter fraud in St. Louis city, despite promises from two defeated GOP candidates to not seek a legal challenge to the election. Bond said he's asked U.S. Attorney Audrey Fleissig and FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to look into polling in the city -- kept open by a court order Tuesday for an extra 40 minutes. "We want to make sure in the future when Missourians go to the polls, they know their vote is going to be counted and everybody is going to have the same opportunity to exercise their franchise," Bond said during a news conference at his office in suburban St. Louis. "It's the most vital part of the Democratic process. And when that is abused and distorted, we all lose." Bond is seeking the investigation despite the decision by both Sen. John Ashcroft and Rep. Jim Talent to not contest the election. Ashcroft lost his Senate seat to the late Gov. Mel Carnahan; Talent lost his bid for governor to State Treasurer Bob Holden. Ashcroft and Talent said that while the allegations of voter fraud in St. Louis are a concern, they do not feel it cost them the election. "I lost this race because I didn't get as many votes as my opponent did," Ashcroft said as he conceded the election to the late Gov. Mel Carnahan. Ashcroft's decision Wednesday came just hours after Bond called the effort by Democrats to keep the polls in the city open until 10 p.m. "criminal," and one of the city's two election directors said he would ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Ironically, Bond appointed judge Evelyn M. Baker, who made the initial ruling to keep the polls open, to the bench as governor in 1983. About an hour before polls in the city were scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Baker ordered the city's Board of Elections to keep them open until 10 p.m. The Missouri Court of Appeals quashed the order about 40 minutes later, closing the polls. It made for a wild hour at the board's downtown office, where hundreds of voters turned away from the polls because they were not registered or had other problems voting filled the lobby throughout the day. By early evening, the lobby was shoulder to shoulder with people who wanted to vote. Kevin Coan, the city's Republican director of elections, said fewer than 500 voters obtained a court order allowing them to register or corrected a registration problem, and then cast a ballot. Doors at the board's office were locked at 7 p.m., with those arriving later placed in a line outside. Access to that line was cut off after the appeals court decision was released, and that crowd was dispersed peacefully by police. Those inside the office by 7 p.m. were allowed to vote, as prescribed by Missouri law. The last vote was cast about 10:30 p.m. Coan said the situation created by the dueling court orders did not "in and of itself" constitute voter fraud. Coan said Wednesday the board is still investigating 29 polling places where election judges walked out at 7 p.m., leaving ballots and boxes unattended. Police were later dispatched to the 29 locations to secure the ballots and boxes. "There does not appear to be any ballot box tampering that we've been able to establish yet," Coan said. William Lacy Clay, who won the 1st Congressional District seat held by his retiring father, was one of the parties who filed suit seeking an extension of polling time. He spent the days before the election saying he feared the election board could attempt to block some eligible voters from casting ballots. Coan said he believes Clay was to blame for the confusion at the city's polls, and said he plans to ask the Justice Department to look into Clay's conduct. "Everything he did (Tuesday) was to create a situation where he could file that suit," Coan said. newstribune.com