On March 11 Hamilton County, Ohio, Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced charges against Russell Glassop, Melowese Richardson, and Sister Marguerite Kloos for voter fraud. The Hamilton County Grand Jury returned a one-count indictment of illegal voting against Glassop, an eight-count indictment of illegal voting against Richardson and an information was filed against Kloos charging her with one count of illegal voting.
According to the press release posted March 11 on the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s website:
Richardson is charged with 8 counts of Illegal Voting for voting twice on her behalf and voting on behalf of others in various elections. Count one of the indictment charges her with voting twice in the 2012 United States Presidential Election in violation of Ohio Revised Code 3599.12 (A) (2). Counts 2-8 charge her with voting on behalf of other people in various elections in violation of Ohio Revised Code 3599.12 (A) (3). The people she is charged with voting on behalf of are her relatives. Richardson is a long-time Hamilton County poll worker who has worked for the Board of Elections since at least 1998.
Kloos faced an information rather than an indictment by the Hamilton County Grand Jury because her lawyer contacted the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office and agreed that she would cooperate and plead guilty to the charge that she faced according to the Hamilton County prosecutor’s website.
The New American contacted the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office regarding other cases of suspected of voter fraud that have been referred to them. Spokeswoman Julie Wilson said these cases are under investigation and that’s all that she was at liberty to say at that time.
The debates over laws to curb electoral fraud frequently end in impasses. The opponents say the laws are unnecessary because the fraud isn’t happening. The proponents of those laws say electoral fraud is happening and the lack of documentation is caused by inadequate investigations coupled with a lack of prosecutions. Volunteer organizations, such as True the Vote, have begun grass-roots campaigns to get law enforcement officials to investigate electoral fraud and prosecute when appropriate.
The following account serves to illustrate the absurdity occasionally witnessed regarding the issue of electoral fraud. On April 27, 2012 a group of protesters gathered outside of True the Vote’s 2012 National Summit in Houston. The protesters wore tape over their mouths to signify being silenced by stricter election laws, and many of them carried signs. One of the signs said, “There are more Bigfoot sightings than documented cases of voter fraud.” When a reporter with The New American began interviewing this protester and asked him to further explain the message on his sign, the man said the sign was made by someone else and was simply handed to him. The leader of the protesters immediately intervened to stop the interview, and then reminded all the protesters that they were instructed not to talk with the news media. It is ironic that demonstrators claiming to be silenced by sinister forces were silenced from talking to the news media by one of their own.
The demonstration leader asked the police, who were there in case trouble occurred, to order the reporter off the premises, at which point the reporter reminded all concerned that it was a public sidewalk and he had just as much right to freedom of the press as they had freedom of speech.
The New American never got to learn what evidence the sign maker had to back up the claim that there are more Bigfoot sightings than documented cases of voter fraud. Within minutes the leader of the demonstrators ordered all the demonstrators to get back on the bus that brought them there and they left the premises.
