08092003 - News Article - Judge to decide if fraud tainted S'ville election - Riga's attorney says voters who testified want votes to count - ROBERT CANTRELL

Judge to decide if fraud tainted S'ville election
Riga's attorney says voters who testified want votes to count
NWI Times
Aug 9, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/local/judge-to-decide-if-fraud-tainted-s-ville-election/article_075573f0-6a9b-5785-9e5d-5a6a946ef5f0.html
CROWN POINT -- A judge said Friday she will rule within a month on the allegation the Schererville town judge election was stolen from the voters.

Lake County Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura heard testimony this week from 22 witnesses admitting their signatures on absentee ballots were forged, their voting secrecy was compromised and state vote fraud law was violated in the primary between Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga and challenger Kenneth Anderson.

Anderson has demanded a recount and a reversal of Riga's victory over him by 11 ballots.

Anderson got a majority of votes cast in person May 6 at the polls, but Riga came out on top with the help of a wave of absentee ballots cast before the election.

"They disenfranchised a whole town," Richard Maroc, one of Anderson's attorney, told Bonaventura Friday morning in closing arguments. "Only the courts have the right to redress the rights of people. We ask you do that."

Nick Thiros, one of Riga's lawyers, replied, "This court would have to take a great leap of faith to find fraud in this case. I didn't hear any one of these witnesses say they were intimidated or participated in fraud."

Robert Vann, another of Riga's lawyers, said despite technical violations uncovered by Anderson, the voters who testified said they wanted their votes to count.

Bonaventura said she will give both sides until the end of the month to submit written arguments on the law. She said she will rule the following week whether to confirm Riga as the Democratic nominee or order a special election.

Anderson's legal team said it uncovered more than 100 violations of election laws, including four votes allegedly cast by nonresidents, including three people now living in Illinois.

It argued anyone wishing to steal votes could obtain from county records a poll book listing all registered voters and their addresses and go door to door to determine if they had died or left the area and obtain absentee ballots in their names.

The testimony revealed county election officials rarely purge the rolls of dead, moved or inactive voters and beyond the inexact science of signature comparisons on voting records there is little security built into absentee ballot system.

Many of the irregular ballots came from the heavily Serbian 10th Precinct, where Bob "Bosko" Grkinich is the Democratic committeeman.

Witnesses, many of whom were elderly and could barely understand English, told the court through an interpreter that Grkinich brought them absentee ballot applications to sign, then hovered in the same room as the voter marked the ballot.

Tom Kouros, a political adviser to Riga, attempted to distance her from Grkinich. He said Grkinich was only one of six precinct committeemen "who we thought supported her."

"We were disappointed in (Grkinich.) He didn't show active support. He was more interested in town council races," Kouros said.

Grkinich took the Fifth Amendment on the advice of a criminal defense lawyer Kevin Milner. He refused to answer questions about his role in alleged vote fraud on grounds it might incriminate him.

Maroc, who retired after decades on the bench as a criminal judge, said Grkinich's kept his mouth shut, "probably very wisely."