Hot mayoral races stir absentee voters into action
Thousands of ballots requested, cast for Nov. 4 general election
NWI Times
Oct 28, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/hot-mayoral-races-stir-absentee-voters-into-action/article_d8ac458e-4aa9-5e53-b3e8-8b48353c20cf.html
CROWN POINT -- A wave of last-minute absentee ballots and applications rolled over the Lake County election board staff.
Michelle Fajman, supervisor of elections, and a team of clerks worked after hours processing 500 forms either hand-carried or mailed into the office Monday, the last day applications for such votes would be accepted for the Nov. 4 general election.
Fajman said ballots have been requested in the name of 4,273 voters.
She said nearly half -- 2,089 -- already have voted either in person Monday or by mail. Absentee ballots still can be cast in person here until Nov. 3 and received in the mail and be counted on Election Day.
The most absentee votes have been cast in Hammond, where there is a spirited mayoral contest between Duane Dedelow Jr., the incumbent Republican, and Democratic challenger Thomas McDermott Jr. Voters there have requested 1,094 ballots and have cast 536 to date.
Gary, where Mayor Scott King is running against Republican Charles Smith Jr., has requested 494 applications and cast 214 ballots to date.
Crown Point residents, who must choose between Republican Daniel Klein and Democrat Wayne Isailovich, have requested 413 ballots and cast 253 to date. Merrillville voters have applied for 394 and cast 223.
East Chicago, where Mayor Robert Pastrick is challenged by Republican A. Santos, has requested 343 ballots and cast 114.
Munster residents have applied for 242 and cast 85. Whiting, where Democrat Joseph "Joe" Stahura and Republican Mary Comstock are vying for mayor, requested 191 and cast 75.
Schererville applied for 155 and cast 75. Hobart, where Mayor Linda Buzinec is being challenged by Republican John Guthrie, has applied for 160 ballots and cast 126 to date.
Lake Station, where Mayor Shirley Wadding is being challenged by Republican Edward Peralta, has applied for 216 ballots and cast 68 to date.
New Chicago requested 98 and cast 58. St. John requested 76 and cast 46.
Fajman said the most energetic campaign workers brought in absentee ballot application stacks of 50 and 100. However, only voters can bring in or mail the completed ballots.
The late surge again raises questions whether candidates were again orchestrating absentee ballot campaigns as allegedly happened last spring when Pastrick's election staff solicited more than 1,000 absentee ballots.
Although a recount judge overturned 155 as invalid, the remainder provided the decisive edge in his victory over challenger George Pabey.
Supporters of Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga put her over the top last spring with hundreds of absentee ballots. However, the recount overturned her victory following evidence 23 absentee votes were invalid.
A Lake County special grand jury, County Prosecutor Bernard Carter and Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into absentee vote fraud in which more than 100 people have been targeted for election law violations. Those targeted include candidates' campaign workers accused of illegally possessing absentee ballots and assisting voters in filling them out.
Cam Savage, a spokesman for Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, said Monday there have been a number of complaints around the state about absentee ballot violations, "but not as many from Lake County as you might think."
He said anyone who felt pressured to apply for absentee ballots can avoid casting one illegally by voting in person.
None of the attention on this issue has discouraged either Dedelow, McDermott, or Klein from soliciting absentee ballots.
The candidates said it is perfectly legitimate.
Klein said Monday, "We sent them out. We didn't fill them out."
He said his staff has solicited absentee ballots from Crown Point teenagers who are on college campuses. He said about 7 percent of the votes cast for him in the spring primary were by absentee ballot, and he expects to get a similar number in the general election.
Dedelow couldn't be reached Monday for comment. He said in September his staff was following the law.
McDermott said Monday, "I don't think it is going to come down to absentee ballots. I think it will be a clear-cut winner. We had no coordinated absentee ballot campaign. If I ran into somebody who requested it, but we didn't really push it."
More than 4,000 absentee ballots were cast four years ago in the fall.
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