Attorney Robert Owsiany told the Allegheny County Elections Board on Thursday that he has found substantial evidence to support allegations of absentee-ballot vote fraud organized by Democratic township officials. Owsiany said the investigation should be continued or turned over to law enforcement.
The Elections Board is scheduled to reconvene on the Kennedy investigation at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Room 601 of the County Office Building, Downtown.
In the report, handwriting expert Michelle Dresbold said she found clear evidence of fraud involving absentee ballots from the 1997 general election; the 1999 general election; and the 2001 primary and general elections.
I hope something comes of the investigation and something is done about vote fraud. It should be a very serious offense that lands the guilty in prison for over half of their remaining life.
I suspect I'm a victim of it too. Weeks ago, a young man was in front of the grocery with voting registration forms. I thought, "Oh great....save me a trip." He asked if I wanted to register Democrat. I looked at him and said, "Not in this lifetime." He looked flustered and I told him I wished to register Independent. I filled out the form and was told I'd get my voter ID in 10 days. It's never arrived and I was denied voting in the primary because I merely had my receipt but not the voter ID. It's been 3 weeks and it still isn't here. Hmmmmmmmmm.
By Brian C. Rittmeyer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, September 14, 2002
Kennedy Township residents whose complaints of voter fraud appear to have been confirmed by an attorney's investigation say they hope a criminal probe will begin soon.
"Somebody has to be held accountable for this," said Kevin Parent, a member of the Kennedy Township Committee for Community Awareness ? a citizens group that brought forth the allegations in 1999. "We have troops all over the world trying to preserve free elections, and we can't get one here."
Attorney Robert Owsiany told the Allegheny County Elections Board on Thursday that he has found substantial evidence to support allegations of absentee-ballot vote fraud organized by Democratic township officials. Owsiany said the investigation should be continued or turned over to law enforcement.
The Elections Board is scheduled to reconvene on the Kennedy investigation at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Room 601 of the County Office Building, Downtown.
In the report, handwriting expert Michelle Dresbold said she found clear evidence of fraud involving absentee ballots from the 1997 general election; the 1999 general election; and the 2001 primary and general elections.
Documents from the 1999 primary are missing and are believed to have been destroyed. Dresbold said nearly a third of the absentee ballots cast in the 1997 general election contained similar handwriting and that at least 28 of the ballots contained the handwriting or printing of Melvin Weinstein, current township treasurer and a former commissioner.
Dresbold said she also found that some ballots appeared to contain the handwriting of Weinstein's son, John Weinstein, current county treasurer, and that more samples of his handwriting are needed to determine the extent of his involvement.
John Weinstein could not be reached for comment. Melvin Weinstein declined comment Friday, saying he had not seen the report.
"I have nothing to say until I look at that in detail," said Melvin Weinstein, who also declined to discuss the allegations in general.
Donna Mustari, activities director at Sycamore Creek Nursing Home, asked to be relieved from handling absentee ballots for the few home residents who still voted after an encounter with Melvin Weinstein. She claimed that he asked her to return absentee ballots to him blank and in unsealed envelopes, which she refused to do.
Mustari said she told Owsiany the truth, but that she didn't expect her recollections would be made public with her name attached. Mustari, a McKees Rocks native, said she is fearful of repercussions and is considering moving out of Kennedy Township, which she has called home for 11 years.
"I have to live in this township, and that man is above the law," Mustari said yesterday. "He's always made people feel he owns the township.
"I love Kennedy Township," she said. "Now, if I could get out of here, I would leave."
Gerald Smith, the township's elected constable, said that when he ran for election in 1997, he asked Melvin Weinstein for a vote prediction. Smith said Melvin Weinstein told him he already had several hundred votes and waved an absentee ballot at him.
"He shook it at me and said: 'See this, I handle all the absentee ballots,'" Smith said.
Smith said Melvin Weinstein is not supporting him anymore.
"He's not backing me because he can't own me," Smith said.
James Pastin, one of three members of the Montour School Board elected from Kennedy, said he was first elected to the school board in 1993 with the backing of township Democrats but without their backing in 1997 and 2001. Pastin said he lost the support of Democratic officials early in his first year when he wouldn't do what they told him.
"I just didn't like some of the things that were going on within that group. I divorced myself from that group. I've had no dealings with them since," he said. "I basically walked away from that, and I prefer to keep it that way."
Colleen Willison, another member of the Committee for Community Awareness, said she fears that the impropriety in Kennedy Township only begins with the absentee ballots.
Willison said she and Parent's wife, Bonnie, had reviewed the now-missing absentee ballots from the 1999 primary and had seen similar handwriting on many of them.
"We found the Holy Grail, but now it's missing," she said. "I think it's very curious they are missing."
In his report, Owsiany said the Weinsteins ? if involved in a conspiracy to fraudulently vote absentee ballots in the 1999 primary ? would have had the "incentive, motivation and opportunity to make sure the primary 1999 ballots disappeared."
The Elections Board has ordered the county Elections Division to secure its records better.
Colleen Naples Moses, secretary of the citizens group and a lifelong Kennedy resident, said the report substantiates the talk about township politics that has been shared over fences for years.
"Our entire purpose was to show people this truly goes on. It's almost like having a picture of the Loch Ness monster. It really does exist," Moses said. "I don't think it's a shock to anyone who lives here."
Moses said citizens have done all they can.
"There needs to be some sort of accountability," Willison said. "More importantly, how can we prevent this from happening again?"
Brian C. Rittmeyer can be reached at
brittmeyer@tribweb.com or (412) 306-4540.