Anderson named winner of Schererville Town judge race
He will be the Democratic nominee after primary results overturned for voter fraud
NWI Times
Sep 6, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/local/anderson-named-winner-of-schererville-town-judge-race/article_0c65482c-34c0-5c3c-a9ad-c27faab99db3.html
A Lake Superior Court judge toppled the results of Schererville's Democratic primary election for town judge Friday, dubbing as fraudulent at least 23 absentee ballots cast for incumbent Deborah Riga.
The ruling -- believed to be the first of its kind in the state by some attorneys in the case -- means challenger Kenneth Anderson captures the party nomination after contesting the results of the May 6 election. The race was decided by 11 votes.
In her 45-page written ruling, Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura chastised Riga campaign worker, Robert Grkinich, for "illegal, deliberate actions" to either forge or fabricate 23 absentee votes on behalf of his candidate.
Bonaventura tossed out the ballots, meaning Anderson actually won by 12 votes.
Riga has the right to appeal the ruling to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
"We believe this may be the first time in Indiana history in which a judge reversed the outcome of an election based on fraud," said Anderson attorney Ed Hall.
Hall noted that in a recent challenge of the East Chicago mayoral race, a judge ruled that fraudulent absentee balloting had taken place by supporters of Mayor Robert Pastrick but was not pervasive enough to overturn the election.
Pastrick's 278-vote victory -- by virtue of his 1,093 absentee votes -- was reduced to a 123-vote victory when LaPorte County Judge Steven King invalidated 155 absentee ballots.
In the Schererville race, Grkinich's tactics included arranging for at least three absentee votes to be cast by people no longer living in Schererville and by filling in the ballots for others, who later testified they did not actually vote in the election cycle, the judge ruled.
The 23 votes in question came from Precinct 10, an area heavily populated by ethnic Serbians where Grkinich is Democratic committeeman.
"Because of advanced age, infirmity and/or the inability to read or write English, many good people unwittingly participated in a series of deliberate actions that compromised the integrity of the vote," Bonaventura ruled.
Bonaventura also stated she did not believe Riga "initiated, orchestrated, condoned ratified or participated" in Grkinich's scheme.
Flanked by his wife and campaign organizers at his attorneys' Merrillville law office, Anderson called Bonaventura's ruling courageous.
"This isn't a victory for me," Anderson said. "It's a victory for the people of Schererville. It's a victory for voting."
Former Lake County Superior Court Judge Richard Maroc, who helped litigate Anderson's case, echoed those sentiments.
"Ken had a very good case based on law and the facts," said Maroc, noting the culture and history of political corruption throughout Lake County. "It took a courageous and fair-minded judge to redress the wrong.
"I hope this means more people will vote and have confidence in our judiciary as well," Maroc added.
Neither Riga nor her attorney, Robert Vann, returned telephone calls Friday afternoon.
Grkinich, of Schererville, also could not be reached for comment.
Anderson attorney John Craig said his camp had not heard yet whether Lake County prosecutors intend to file criminal charges, in light of Bonaventura's ruling that election laws were violated.
"There are charges that could be filed here that could be considered Class A misdemeanors or Class D felonies," Craig said. "That's not up to us to decide. It's up to the prosecutors."
Anderson demanded the recount following the election in May, arguing he got a majority of the votes cast in person at the polls.
Friday's ruling overturned a previous 2-1 vote by the Lake County Board of Elections Recount Commission that determined fraud was not pervasive enough to void the election results.
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