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Dead Voters Submit Ballots From Beyond

POSTED: 4:29 pm EDT October 31, 2008
UPDATED: 5:37 pm EST November 2, 2008

Among the thousands of graves at Highland Park Cemetery, one modest tombstone stands out.

Alex Holmes Sr. has been at rest in that cemetery for 15 years. But recent election records show he cast a ballot in this year's primary.

And our 5 On Your Side investigation found a home on Cleveland's east side listed as Holmes' address.

Jeremy Moore, Holmes' grandson, was stunned.

"He's deceased. Deceased since 1993," Moore said.

And it doesn't appear to be a name mix-up.

Records reveal Alex Holmes Jr. -- who is still alive -- voted in the same election as his deceased father.

Cuyahoga County Elections Director Jane Platten said she'll look in to it.

"Without having full detail, I have no idea why that would have happened," Platten said.

But this isn't the first time we've uncovered dead voters. Two years ago, another 5 On Your Side investigation exposed 13,000 dead voters registered in Cuyahoga County. More than two dozen of them cast ballots.

Back then, NewsChannel5 was told dead voters would be removed from the rolls.

Now, on the eve of an historic election -- when every vote in Cuyahoga County is considered crucial -- our NewsChannel5 investigation has once again uncovered thousands of dead voters still on the rolls, and ballots still being cast from beyond.

The exact number of dead voters is difficult to say this time because Ohio's Secretary of State issued a directive to Boards of Elections across the state to withhold dates of births in public records requests. That information is important in positively identifying dead voters.

Our NewsChannel5 investigative team sorted the data and then hit the streets in neighborhoods across the county.

After all the work, the record showed serious questions about 27 people. Those 27 people appear to be dead voters.

In many of the cases this time, the dead were counted because of technical mistakes.

In one case, a wife signed in the wrong place and her deceased husband was counted as the voter.

"That shouldn't have been counted that way. You agree with that?" Pohlman asked.

"Yes," Platten said.

And in another case, the word "deceased" looked like a signature.

While Platten said she’s concerned about what NewsChannel5 found, she insisted there is no evidence of fraud.

"I think that there is not an abuse of it. I think that this is something that internally is something we need to work on and clean up," Platten said.

But a "clean up" could be difficult in a system that still counts "ballots from beyond."




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