10072003 - News Article - Riga lets deadline go by - Anderson is the Democratic nominee for Schererville town judge - ROBERT CANTRELL

Riga lets deadline go by
Anderson is the Democratic nominee for Schererville town judge
NWI Times
Oct 7, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/local/riga-lets-deadline-go-by/article_617ab3cc-9291-5a73-8866-658801b2ed38.html
SCHERERVILLE -- The deadline to appeal the decision in the ongoing case of the Schererville Town Court judge election passed without incident.

Schererville Town Court Judge Deborah Riga had until Monday to file an appeal regarding a decision naming attorney Kenneth Anderson the victor in last spring's Democratic primary.

Neither Riga nor her attorney, Robert Vann, returned calls from The Times seeking comment. However, officials for Lake County Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura said nothing had been filed with the court.

Anderson's attorney, John Craig, said no matter what happens, they are ready to go forward.

"If they file something, fine. If not, great," he said. "I'm glad it's over."

Late Monday, Anderson said he was happy.

"But I'm trying to be conservative," he said. "There's still a chance that she could file and serve us by mail and we wouldn't get it until Tuesday or Wednesday. We don't believe she has filed but there's always a chance. I thought our attorneys did a very good job and the evidence was such that it could not be appealed.

"Since the Supreme Court had ruled earlier on the procedural issues and the court case was regarding the substantive issues, I thought an appeal would be pointless."

The issue began following the primary.

Anderson won the popular vote in the primary but lost to Riga by 11 votes when absentee ballots were counted. He demanded a recount, charging fraudulent voting in Precinct 10. However, the Lake County Election Board ruled there wasn't enough evidence of fraud and would not overturn the election.

Anderson took his case to court, and Bonaventura, a juvenile court judge, was appointed special judge in the case. Riga subsequently filed a motion with the Indiana Supreme Court in an effort to get a change of venue and said Anderson had missed the deadline to have his case heard.

The Indiana Supreme Court sent the case back to the local level.

In a 45-page decision, Bonaventura ruled last month that Anderson was the victor. She also cited illegal and deliberate actions in regard to absentee voting.

From there, Riga had 30 days to file an appeal. That deadline was Monday.

Anderson does not face a Republican challenger in the November general election. He is expected to take office Jan. 1.