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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mrknowitall who wrote (14802)	11/13/1998 3:33:00 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 67261

Possibility that felons voted has Republicans doubting results of House race WARREN FISKE, The Virginian-Pilot Copyright 1998, Landmark Communications Inc. RICHMOND -- Revelations that 881 felons were illegally registered to vote in Norfolk last fall are causing state Republican leaders to question the validity of Del. Donald L. Williams' 11-vote victory last year in a House of Delegates race. ''We've always had suspicions the election was tainted,'' said Chris LaCivita, executive director of the state Republican Party. ''This seems to confirm them.'' Williams, a Democrat, said there is no basis to challenge his narrow win over Republican Beverly Graeber in the 86th House District in the northwestern portion of Norfolk. ''It was not tainted, and I resent them even saying that,'' he said. ''It has stood the test of time. It withstood a recount. I mean, how many times do I have to win this election? Tell the Republicans it's over.'' Graeber, who last year filed and then dropped a legal challenge to the election that in part questioned whether felons cast ballots, said she has no intention of contesting her defeat again. ''Let's focus on next year,'' she said, adding that she is considering another run against Williams. A number of Democrats and Republicans involved in the race say it may be impossible to ever determine whether felons who had lost their voting rights changed the outcome of the election. But if they did, Republicans were prevented from getting the first majority in the House since Reconstruction. The House is currently divided with 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and one Independent who typically sides with the GOP. The controversy was renewed on Monday with the release of an audit that blistered the state Board of Elections for ineffective management and poor oversight of voter rolls. The report, conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission, found that 11,221 felons illegally registered to vote last fall. Of them, 1,739 cast ballots. Norfolk led Virginia with 881 felons on its voter rolls. The report did not say how many of them actually cast ballots. Even if such a number were available, it would not shed light on the outcome of the Williams-Graeber race. That's because they ran in one of five House districts in Norfolk. And there's one more complexity. ''Let's say you could find 20 felons who actually voted in the district,'' Williams said. ''How could you know they all voted for me? ''Since the election was so close, wouldn't it be more likely that 10 voted for me and 10 voted for my opponent? In that case it's a wash. Maybe all 20 voted for my opponent and my margin of victory was a whopping 31 votes.'' LaCivita's reply: ''Felons don't vote Republican.'' Behind the posturing, however, Republicans say they are frustrated by roadblocks that keep them from exploring the truth. Shortly after the election, Norfolk Circuit Judge William F. Rutherford denied Republican demands to see a list of participating voters. Rutherford ruled that recounts must be limited to an inspection of the ballots that were cast. Today, the Republican Party has access to the voting records. But state police will not release a database of Virginia felons, saying the records are not subject to Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. ''Was the election tainted?'' asked Walter D. Kelley Jr., Norfolk's Republican chairman. ''There's no way you can tell. . . . What I find amazing is that there's no one out there keeping tabs on the (election) system.'' Williams said the whole debate is pointless and politically motivated. ''We don't know,'' he said. ''We don't even know for a fact that a single felon voted in the 86th District.'' pilotonline.com