04.12.08
Joel Neal of St. Louis faces up to five years in prison after admitting that he used his dead mother’s absentee ballot to vote in the February election.  Neal pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to election fraud.  His sentencing is scheduled for June 30th.  U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Neal’s mother died in October.  But in January, Neal applied for an absentee ballot from the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners on his mother’s behalf.  According to Hanaway, Neal falsely claimed his mother was incapacitated, marked the ballot and cast a vote in the name of his deceased mother.  The Columbia Tribune has the story here.

04.02.08
Eight employees of the Association of Community Reform Organizations Now (ACORN) have pleaded guilty to federal election fraud for submitting false registration cards for the 2006 election, authorities said Wednesday. Catherine Hanaway, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, said the employees submitted cards with false addresses and names, and forged signatures. The employees are Brian Bland, 23, Bobbie Jean Cheeks, 50, Cortez Cowan, 21, Golden Gibson, 21, Radonna Marie Smith, 24, Anthony Reliford, 21, Kenneth Williams, 21, and Tyaira Williams, 23, all from St. Louis. In March, Kenneth Williams was sentenced to 15 months in prison. The others are scheduled to be sentenced in June. Each faces as much as five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The Fort Mill Times has more on the story here. In 2007, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway issued a press release detailing the indictments.

02.09.08
Joel L. Neal of St. Louis has been indicted on federal election fraud charges for attempting to cast an absentee ballot in the name of his deceased mother. According to the indictment, Neal’s mother died in October but her name remained on the roll of eligible voters. Neal requested an absentee ballot for his mother in January, claiming she was incapacitated. Upon receiving the absentee ballot, Neal marked a vote and returned the ballot before Tuesday’s primary election. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more on the story.

12.21.07
Eight people have been indicted for submitting fake voter registrations in St. Louis City and County. The eight worked as voter registration recruiters for the Association of Community Reform Organizations Now (ACORN) during the 2006 election cycle. Elections Director Scott Leiendecker cited ongoing problems with the group and estimated the elections board spent $20,000 investigating the fraud. Charged with election fraud are Brian Bland, 23, Bobbie Cheeks, 50, Cortez Cowan, 20, Golden Gibson, 21, Radonna Smith, 23, Anthony Reliford, 21, Kenneth Williams, 21, and Tyaira Williams, 22. All are from St. Louis. KSDK News Channel 5 has more on the story. (“Eight indicted for vote fraud in St. Louis”, Fox News channel 2 St. Louis, 12/21/07)

11.08.07
A former campaign worker pled guilty Thursday to charges that he submitted fake signatures in a failed recall effort a few years ago.  Sebekhu Smith, 55, was sentenced to probation, and is no longer allowed to vote in St. Louis City.  He's one of three campaign workers who faced charges related to their work to recall Alderman Jeffrey Boyd.  That effort never even made it to a vote in Boyd's ward because election officials ruled supporters had not submitted enough valid signatures.  The Circuit Attorney's office said Smith, along with Charles Keller, 50, and Linda Rogers, 57, submitted pages of petitions with questionable entries in the effort in 2005 to remove Jeffrey Boyd as 22nd Ward alderman.  Authorities say there were duplicate names, signatures with similar handwriting and names of people not registered to vote or were dead.  KWMU News 90.7 St. Louis has more on the story.

09.05.07
A federal judge today sentenced the last of four defendants indicted for voter registration fraud on the eve of the 2006 elections. Kwaim A. Stenson was sentenced to four months and five days. He will report to a half-way house in Springfield next week. Other defendants in the case also received light sentences. For example, Brian Gardner and Dale D. Franklin received probation, while Carmen R. Davis was sentenced to 120 days in a halfway house. (“Voter fraud defendant sentenced”, The Kansas City Star, 09/05/07)

5.18.07
Carmen R. Davis, 38, was charged in January with voter registration fraud and identity theft before the November 2006 elections.  Davis and two other former employees of ACORN have been charged with submitting false registrations in Kansas City during the 2006 election.  (“Former ACORN employee pleads guilty to voter registration fraud,” The Kansas City Star, 05/18/07)

05.11.07
Three campaign workers have been charged with fraud for their role in the failed recall attempt of a city alderman.  The charges allege that, in an effort to remove 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd from office, the three submitted pages of petitions with questionable entries, including duplicate names, signatures with similar handwriting, and individuals who were not registered voters.  Several names on the petitions belonged to dead voters.  Petition circulators working with Ozier were paid at least $2 per signature.  (“Campaign workers charged with fraud,” The St. Louis Post Dispatch, 05/11/07)

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