Grand jury resumes vote probe
Residents of Schererville called in absentee ballot investigation
NWI Times
Dec 5, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/grand-jury-resumes-vote-probe/article_09cc9e83-e24e-5801-84da-82a28585c89f.html
CROWN POINT -- A special grand jury resumed its investigation into vote fraud during this year's municipal elections.
Five people, a number of them residents of Schererville, were called Thursday before the panel of citizens looking into allegations of absentee ballot fraud.
The investigation began last August following allegations campaign supporters in Schererville, East Chicago and other communities violated state election laws to obtain enough votes for their candidates.
The grand jury already has heard testimony from more than two dozen Schererville residents with regard to the Schererville town judge race.
Judge Deborah Riga won the spring primary by 11 votes, but her nomination was reversed by a recount judge who disqualified 23 absentee ballots in her name and declared challenger Kenneth Anderson the winner.
The grand jury had been in recess for the last two weeks following the indictment of Robert V. Croy, 73, and Dolores A. Croy, 67, with voting outside their home precinct and lying under oath about the votes. Both violations are Class D felonies carrying a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
The state alleges the Croys live in a single-family house at 2620 W. 39th Ave. (Old Ridge Road), Hobart, but voted in the spring primary claiming in absentee ballots they lived in East Chicago.
The Croys are scheduled to appear Jan. 9 in Lake Criminal Court to answer the charges. They are free on bond.
