Town judge election contest could be thrown out -- again
Lake County judge to rule Friday
NWI Times
Jul 31, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/local/town-judge-election-contest-could-be-thrown-out--/article_7804b969-4663-5b3a-a1fd-0bb79c5593bf.html
CROWN POINT -- A Lake County judge will decide Friday morning whether to throw out Kenneth Anderson's court challenge to his slim loss in May's Schererville town judge primary.
Incumbent Town Judge Deborah Riga asked Lake Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura on Wednesday to dismiss the court challenge, saying Anderson's allegations that fraud threw the election should be heard in a different venue.
Anderson contends May's election was stolen from him through an orchestrated scheme to tip the election with tainted absentee ballots. Anderson won the election at the polls, but Riga eked out an 11-vote win after mail-in ballots where counted.
The issue has been running a maze of court hearings, filings and debates. Currently, Anderson is challenging the election in court -- saying the fraud warrants a new election -- and appealing a recount panel's earlier decision to uphold the vote tally. Bonaventura set Aug. 22 for his appeal.
Riga also asked Bonaventura on Wednesday to stop the court challenge until the Indiana Supreme Court rules on her appeal. Bonaventura immediately rejected that plea, a decision the state Supreme Court also reached last week.
Bonaventura said she needed until Friday to review state law to decide whether Anderson can move forward with accusations of mass voter fraud in his court challenge.
Riga's attorney, Robert Vann, told Bonaventura he wants the court challenge tossed because he believes state law only allows Anderson to air complaints of voter fraud through the recount election panel, which voted 2-1 in June to uphold the vote tally.
"The issue of fraud was already brought up in the recount," he said. "Mr. Anderson defiantly needs to be afforded the opportunity to litigate fraud. And he already did that in the recount."
Anderson's small battalion of attorneys contends the court challenge is the right way to go, and they expressed confidence that if they are allowed to bring witnesses to the stand, a re-election will be ordered at least in part of the town.
Anderson has questioned nearly 30 voters and accused vote stealers since Bonaventura denied Riga's earlier request to dismiss the court challenge.
During questioning last week, Anderson's attorneys said they identified at least eight instances of voters who didn't fill out their own ballots and in some cases didn't even ask for them.
Local precinct committeeman Bob "Bosko" Grkinich has become the target of Anderson's investigation. He is accused of having illegal absentee ballots mailed to his mother's house in Crown Point, as well as strong arming mail-in votes in at least one precinct on the town's east side.
He refused to answer questions from Anderson's attorney's last week, invoking his constitutional right to not incriminate himself. He has been avoiding the media.
"We've discovered some things -- things that should be brought into the court of law," Anderson's attorney Richard Maroc told Bonaventura.
As the court hearings proceed, the county's election department is becoming increasingly concerned that a winner be decided soon so ballots can be printed and mailed for Novembers general election. Absentee ballots have to start going out Sept. 25.
Election board attorney Bruce Lambka reminded Bonaventura about that fact during the hearing.
"No one in this room thinks your decision will be the last one in this case," he told her.
If Bonaventura decides Friday to throw out the contest, then Anderson's appeal of the election panel's decision will still go forward Aug. 22. Furthermore, Riga currently has an appeal of Bonaventura's earlier decision to hear Anderson's challenge waiting at the state Supreme Court. Filing papers are due on that matter Aug. 11.
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