Saturday, March 25, 2000
More suspicious ballots found
Fairfield election investigated
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — Butler County elections officials continue to uncover possible vote-fraud evidence against Fairfield Councilman Jon Saylor in last November's 1st Ward council race.
“The board of elections found new evidence in the form of about a dozen newly discov ered absentee ballots, some of which appear to be by fictitious persons,” Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb said Friday. “Also the board of elections got the petitions used in Saylor's campaign, and there again some of the names appear to be fictitious.”
He said the material was sent to the state crime lab for fingerprint and handwriting analysis.
A Butler County grand jury is reviewing a report by the elections board. That report concluded there is strong evidence that Mr. Saylor violated several Ohio elections laws, including knowingly registering people to vote in a precinct in which they were not eligible; interfering with the conduct of an election; tampering with ballots; and possessing false election records.
Mr. Saylor, 27, could face felony charges, officials have said. A first-time candidate for public office, he won Fairfield's 1st Ward council seat, 820-678, over Mike Snyder.
Board of Elections Deputy Director Betty McGary was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment. Mr. Saylor was not at the store where he works on Friday.
Donald Daiker, chairman of the elections board, said the discovery of perhaps a dozen more suspicious absentee ballots could compound the board's findings, but may not lead to additional accusations.
“My assumption was that this did not represent anything different than what the board uncovered and presented to the prosecutor,” he said. “They are free to go beyond the findings of the board of elections.”
The board last month held two days of hearings during an investigation of voting irregularities in the 1st Ward race. Several witnesses testified they signed blank voter registration and absentee ballot request forms for the Fairfield electioneven though they didn't live in Fairfield. Some witnesses said they gave their voted absentee ballots to Mr. Saylor.
At least a dozen questionable absentee ballots were counted during the November election.
Several Fairfield council members have publicly called for Mr. Saylor to resign.
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