Three charged in St. Louis vote fraud case

ST. LOUIS -- Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce has charged three people with 17 counts of vote fraud in connection with the March 2001 mayoral primary, and said additional charges were possible. But Joyce, the city's prosecutor, stressed that no one was able to cast a ballot using the fraudulent voter registration cards she said were illegally filed with the city's Board of Election Commissioners.

"No one voted," Joyce said. "No one benefited from this."

Charged with felony vote fraud were Michelle Robinson, 32, nine counts; Eliza Julion, 29, seven counts; and her brother Paul Julion, 26, one count. The charges are the first from a series of voter fraud investigations by local and federal officials.

Fraud accusations

Joyce declined to answer most questions about her investigation and did not speculate on the motive for filing the false cards. But she said the three were working for a get-out-the-vote effort aimed at minorities. A witness who coordinated "Operation Big Vote" has said some of her employees may have turned in fraudulent registration cards.

Accusations of fraud began after the near-riot at the Election Commissioners' office the day of the November 2000 general election, when thousands of voters were turned away from the polls by workers using a since criticized inactive-voter registration list.

Pushed by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the U.S. Attorney's Office in St. Louis began an investigation that since has been turned over to the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S. Attorney Raymond Gruender said. Joyce is focusing on last March's primary, in which Mayor Francis Slay beat incumbent Clarence Harmon and former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. for the Democratic nomination. Slay won the general election a month later.

Joyce's investigation concerns more than 3,000 suspect voter registration cards, including some with names of deceased political officials.