◼ Chairman of Local Indiana Democratic Party Resigns Amid Fake Signature Scandal - FOX
Both of Indiana's Republican and Democratic Party chairmen have called for a federal investigation into the forged names that appeared on petitions from the 2nd Congressional District, which contains St. Joseph County. Among the dozens of names so far discovered to be fake are former Indiana Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan.
Kernan told the South Bend Tribune last week that neither the print version of his name nor the signature that appear on the suspect document are anything like his own.
Yet, his and other names were approved by the county voter registration office with the use of a rubber stamp in place of a signature by the Republican member of the office.
The Tribune reported that the St. Joseph County voter registration office has a Democratic and Republican member who sign off on petition pages submitted for review. However, Republican Linda Silcott was out of the office on bereavement leave on the days the suspected fakes passed through her office.
Silcott's stamped signature is used on the suspect pages while Democrat Pam Brunette signed off on the petitions in her own hand. The Tribune reported that Silcott's deputy, Mary Carrol Ringler, has authority to use the stamp, but she does not recall if she did so, in part because the dates of the forged petitions coincide with her first two weeks in her post.
On Friday Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb submitted a request for a federal probe to be conducted by the Department of Justice.
◼ Ind. Dem quits in fake-signature flap - Politico
He faces allegations he submitted hundreds of forged signatures - including that of a former governor - on petitions to get Clinton and Obama on the 2008 Indiana primary ballot.
Indiana’s Republican Party Chair Eric Holcomb has called for a federal investigation into the allegations. Holcomb sent a formal request to the Department of Justice on Friday, and told the South Bend Tribune on Monday that Morgan “may very well be the first domino to fall in this growing scandal.”
“While my counterpart continues to call this an ‘isolated’ incident, it is becoming clearer by the day there was nothing isolated about the forging and certifying of potentially hundreds of signatures in the 2008 Democratic primary,” Holcomb said.
And St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dovak told the South Bend Tribune on Monday he is working with a federal attorney on an investigation into the forged signatures
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker said he supports an investigation “to determine how this isolated incident occurred and hold anyone involved accountable.”
◼ Forgeries uncovered among 2008 Obama, Clinton campaign signatures - Indiana Daily Student
◼ Ex-Indiana governor: That's not my signature on Obama petition
The Tribune reported Wednesday that it has talked with more than 40 people who say they didn't sign ballot petitions submitted in St. Joseph County for Obama or Clinton, despite their names appearing on the documents.
◼ Another Shock Report: Without Forged Signatures, Obama Would Not Have Been On Indiana's Primary Ballot - Advance Indiana
The South Bend Tribune has turned in yet another bombshell report on the petition-forging scandal that has enveloped Barack Obama's historical election victory in 2008 and, in particular, his unlikely win in the November, 2008 election in the state of Indiana. When the Tribune and Howey Politics first reported on their discovery of dozens, if not hundreds, of forged signatures on the primary ballot nominating petitions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Indiana Democratic Chairman Dan Parker quickly dismissed the significance of the finding, claiming the forged signatures would not have made the difference over whether either candidate made it on to Indiana's 2008 Democratic primary ballot. The Tribune's investigation has reached the opposition conclusion. The headline in today's paper reads, "Fake signatures may mean Obama didn't actually qualify in Indiana."
...Some may seek to minimize the impact of this revelation because Obama lost the Indiana primary as offering evidence it would have made no difference to his 2008 presidential prospects, but the reality is quite different. Indiana became a pivotal state for the Obama campaign. Unprecedented resources were spent here both during the primary and general election. Obama's campaign had to face off against the Bayh Democratic political machine, which was backing Hillary Clinton's campaign. If he had been kept off the ballot in 2008 because his campaign failed to file a sufficient number of signatures--as the Democrats attempted to keep John McCain off the ballot in 2008--it could have been a fatal blow to his campaign for the Democratic nomination. Even in losing, Obama's narrow loss to Clinton was portrayed in the media as a victory for his campaign because of how close he came to winning here and provided his statewide effort momentum going into the November general election against McCain...
◼ Fake signatures may mean Obama didn't actually qualify in Indiana in 2008 - Erin Blasko/South Bend Tribune
