Saturday, May 20, 2000
Fairfield official indicted on fraud
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — A Butler County grand jury has indicted Fairfield Councilman Jon Saylor on multiple counts of voter fraud in connection with last November's 1st Ward council race.
Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb confirmed the indictment Friday night, but did not have details.
Fairfield Councilman Ron D'Epifanio said Mr. Saylor was indicted on 68 counts of voter fraud. If he is convicted, he would be disqualified from holding office and council would select a replacement to serve out the rest of his term, Mr. D'Epifanio said.
Peter Swenty, Mr. Saylor's attorney, said he was aware of the indictment, but declined comment, since he hadn't yet read it.
Don Daiker, chairman of the Butler County board of elections, said the indictments are the first instance in his experience “of deliberate and systematic voter fraud.”.
“I think it's a very sad situation that a candidate for public office seems to have broken deliberately a series of laws,” he said.
Mr. Saylor rejected a petition signed by more than 400 voters asking that he resign, Mr. D'Epifanio said Friday night. A recall vote could not be held until July 1, at the earliest, since by law such a vote cannot take place within the first six months of an officeholder's term.
The grand jury reviewed a report by the Butler County Elections Board which found 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, a first-time candidate for public office, won Fairfield's 1st Ward council seat over Mike Snyder by 142 votes.
Since the allegations of irregularity arose, several Fairfield council members have urged Mr. Saylor to resign.
The board held two days of hearings in February investigating voting irregularities in the 1st Ward race.
Several witnesses testified they signed blank voter registration and absentee ballot request forms for the Fairfield election even though they didn't live in Fairfield. Some witnesses said they gave their absentee ballots to Mr. Saylor.
Mr. Daiker praised Betty McGary, deputy director of the elections board, Mr. Holcomb and Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard for the investigation leading to the indictments.
“I also think it's a tribute to the hard work of two assistant prosecuting attorneys,” he said. “I know they have literally spent days and weeks in pursuing every lead.”
David Eck, Marie McCain and Jim Hannah contributed to this report.
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