MORE SUSPICIOUS PETITIONS TURN UP

Ashtabula, Hamilton, Lucas Look At Signatures On Issue 1 Petitions

Besides Lake County, at least three other Ohio counties' elections boards
have alerted officials to suspicious State Issue 1 petitions.

Ashtabula County tossed out three of the 80 submitted Issue 1 petitions
aimed at persuading voters to amend the Ohio Constitution for drug policy
changes, said Art Vensel, Ashtabula County Elections Board director.

"We had somebody who signed three different parts in petitions, and they
were the same signatures in a row," Vensel said. "We looked at them and
presented them at the last board meeting, and we just kicked those petitions."

Vensel said this isn't the first election in which suspicious petitions
have been turned in to the Ashtabula County Elections Board.

"We've been on that route before with local people," he said. "So we're
very cognizant."

Vensel said Ashtabula County scrutinizes and verifies every submitted
signature.

He said a California group submitted the three Issue 1 petitions that were
thrown out.

A California group called Progressive Campaigns was contracted to be in
charge of circulating Issue 1 elections petitions, according to Chuck
Chambers of the Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies, the political action
committee in favor of Issue 1.

Chambers said he wasn't aware of any complaints against Progressive
Campaigns, but added that he isn't the company's spokesman.

In Santa Monica, Calif., a woman who answered the telephone for Progressive
Campaigns said a spokesman was unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Vensel said, in general, the circulators turn in their petitions to their
employer, who then sends them to the proper county elections board in Ohio.

In several counties, elections board officials said circulators were paid
75 cents a signature for Issue 1.

n In Lake County, an Eastlake woman is the center of an investigation into
elections falsification that could expand into additional counties, Lake
County Prosecutor Charles E. Coulson said.

The "signatures" of six dead people appear on Issue 1 petitions turned in
to the Lake County Elections Board, Coulson said.

Preliminary investigations indicate 214 false signatures appeared on Issue
1 petitions turned in to Lake County, Coulson said.

The Lake prosecutor said authorities continue trying to figure out in what
other counties the woman circulated petitions.

So far, the unidentified woman has not been arrested or charged, Coulson said.

A fifth-degree felony, election falsification is punishable by a maximum
$2,500 fine and 12 months' incarceration.

n In Cuyahoga County, there have been no instances of intentional fraud,
Elections Coordinator Gwen Dillingham said.

The same holds true in Geauga County, said Catherine Whitright, elections
board director.

Lorain County also reported no problems with Issue 1 petitions or
Progressive Campaigns, said Marilyn Jacobik, elections director.

n However, at least two Ohio counties are conducting criminal election
falsification investigations relating to suspicious Issue 1 petitions,
according to the Ohio Secretary of State's Office.

Despite some questionable petitions across the state, the issue has been
certified and there is no chance it will be taken off the Nov. 5 ballot,
said Diane Firlik, spokeswoman for Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

"Once it's certified, it's on the ballot, regardless of any question of the
signatures," the spokeswoman said.

Firlik also said the secretary of state doesn't have the legal authority to
take an issue off the ballot once it's certified.

Lucas (Toledo) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) counties are conducting
investigations regarding suspicious Issue 1 petitions, Firlik said.

"They are presenting them to their respective county prosecutors, and it
will be up to each prosecutor to decide what to do," she said.

The secretary of state ultimately is in charge of the elections process,
but these investigations are being handled on a countywide level.

Lucas County Elections Board officials have yet to turn in to their county
prosecutor all the Issue 1 petitions they feel are suspicious, Director Joe
Kidd said.

"What we're experiencing even those that we think are good is many of the
confirmation cards are being returned undeliverable," Kidd said.

"While processing some of the registrations, we've made copies of all the
petitions that are suspicious - attaching the cards to the petitions."

Kidd said most of the petition problems in Lucas County stem from those
turned in by Progressive Campaigns.

"They circulated petitions and registered people to vote," Kidd said. "They
paid a high price per signature. When you do that, you create an economic
incentive to create false registrations."

Kidd said Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates office hasn't been involved
in the investigation at this point.

"We're collecting the evidence and putting it in a form in which the
prosecutors (can look at it)," Kidd said. "I hope if there's evidence of a
crime, I would hope there would be prosecution."

In Hamilton County, four people are under investigation for elections
falsification involving Issue 1 petitions, said Julie Stautberg, elections
board director.

That investigation into Issue 1 petitions first began as an investigation
for suspicious petitions on behalf of a candidate for the 2nd Congressional
District, Stautberg said.

Four circulators were referred to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office
in that case.

But as that investigation arose, so did suspicions related to Issue 1
petitions, Stautberg said.

"As we looked at them, it looked like (signatures) had been pulled from the
phone book, she said. "There were some that signed 'Wm.' instead of
'William.' There were an inordinate number of Jasons, and a number of them
weren't registered."

The Hamilton County Elections Board held a hearing Sept. 16 for nine
circulators in question.

"The board chose to refer four of them, for five of them there simply
wasn't enough evidence," she said.

Three of the four referred to the prosecutor included those who had also
been referred in the 2nd Congressional District candidate race, Stautberg said.