From the St. Louis Post Dispatch

Tort reform group will observe vote
By Paul Hampel and Williams Lamb
10-28-04
A tort reform group will have off-duty police officers and other observers watching for voter fraud at some Metro East polling sites on Election Day, the group's president said Wednesday.
Ed Murnane, with the Illinois Civil Justice League, said he is particularly concerned that trial lawyers will try to rig the Illinois Supreme Court race in favor of 5th District Appellate Judge Gordon Maag, a Democrat from Glen Carbon.
Maag's Republican opponent is Washington County Circuit Judge Lloyd Karmeier.
"The trial lawyers will resort to anything legal, or illegal, to get what they want," Murnane said. "And we will do whatever we possibly can to protect the rights of voters in the 5th (Judicial) District to have an honest vote."
Kevin Conway, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, called Murnane's accusations "ludicrous."
"If Ed Murnane has any proof of voter fraud on either the Republican or Democratic side in this election, or any other election, I will personally escort him to the state's attorney to take action and will assist him for free," Conway said. "I personally am committed to a fair election, and our group is, too."
Murnane said he was particularly concerned with "certain areas in St. Clair County" but would not be more specific.
St. Clair County officials with both parties predicted that the Karmeier-Maag race and a high-profile contest for County Board chairman between Mark A. Kern and Steve Reeb would drive a strong voter turnout Tuesday.
Stephen P. McGlynn, a Belleville attorney and the co-chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said Wednesday that he is concerned that voter interest in the Supreme Court race, in particular, would encourage Democrats to engage in voter fraud.
McGlynn, a former chairman of the St. Clair County Republican Party, said he had received "specific information" that Democrats planned to buy votes, particularly in East St. Louis, with cash and crack cocaine. McGlynn declined to identify the Democratic officials who he said had provided him with that information.
Robert Sprague, the St. Clair County Democratic chairman, dismissed McGlynn's allegations as "hogwash." Sprague said the Democrats were planning an aggressive get-out-the-vote push for Tuesday but declined to describe those efforts in detail.
Sprague said the party's efforts to boost turnout would not be tethered to the Karmeier-Maag contest.
"I think we need Democrats to vote for all of our candidates," he said. "We run as a team. We don't single-shoot like the Republicans."
McGlynn said he had delivered to the St. Clair County clerk's office and the East St. Louis Election Board lists of hundreds of registered voters that he had cross-referenced with names from local obituary pages.
He described voter fraud as a "real, legitimate problem" with a long history in St. Clair County.
Last month, former East St. Louis election judge Leander Brooks received an 18-month prison term for forging the signatures on ballot applications in the November 2002 election, allowing unregistered or otherwise illegitimate voters to cast the ballots.
And in 2001, former East St. Louis City Councilman Michael Collins was sentenced to 18 months of probation for vote fraud involving the East St. Louis School Board election in 1995.
St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert B. Haida said investigators from his office would canvass the county Tuesday, looking for suspicious activity and responding to complaints from citizens and elections judges.
Haida said the effort would mirror those from previous election cycles, adding that he had no plans to increase patrols in anticipation of a robust turnout.
Murnane, with the Illinois Civil Justice League, said he also was suspicious about the Madison County Democratic Team's plans for $62,000 that prominent asbestos attorney Randy Bono and his East Alton personal injury firm, SimmonsCooper, donated to the group on Friday.
"Why do they need all that money?" Murnane asked. "We are concerned with what kind of money that group will spend on Election Day activities - and what they will spend it on."
Madison County Circuit Clerk Matt Melucci, chairman of the county's Democratic Team, could not be reached for comment.
Reporter Paul Hampel
E-mail: paulh@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-659-3639
Reporter William Lamb
E-mail: wlamb@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-235-6142