AP News, March 13th, 2007
Two county election workers were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for rigging a recount of 2004 presidential election ballots so they could avoid a longer, detailed review.
Jacqueline Maiden, 60, a Cuyahoga County election coordinator who was the board's third-highest ranking employee, and ballot manager Kathleen Dreamer, 40, each were convicted of a felony count of negligent misconduct of an elections employee.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter Corrigan allowed the women to remain free on bail pending appeal, but indicated he thought there was a more widespread conspiracy among election officials.
"I can't help but feel there's more to this story," Corrigan said.
Ohio law says that during a recount each county is supposed to randomly count at least 3 percent of its ballots by hand and by machine. If there are no discrepancies, the rest of the votes can be recounted by machine. A full hand count is ordered if two random samples result in differences.
Special prosecutor Kevin Baxter said in the defendants' January trial that they worked behind closed doors three days before the public recount on Dec. 16, 2004, to pick ballots they knew would not cause discrepancies when checked by hand, thereby avoiding a full hand recount.
Baxter did not claim the workers' actions affected the outcome of the election _ Democratic Sen. John Kerry gained 17 votes and President Bush lost six in the county's recount. Ohio gave Bush the electoral votes he needed to defeat Kerry in the close election.
Defense lawyer Roger Synenberg said in his closing argument that the two women were simply following procedures as they understood them. Still, the judge pressed the two to say whether their supervisors told them to rig the recount.
"This big conspiracy, it's not there," Dreamer said. She said she wasn't protecting anyone at the board and had been truthful in the investigation.
Maiden said she wouldn't lie, even to protect someone. "I've never tried to do anything underhanded," she said.
Maiden and Dreamer also were convicted of one misdemeanor count each of failure of elections employees to perform their duty. Both were acquitted of five other charges.
