August 06, 2004

Indiana Decisions - Supreme Court orders new election in East Chicago!

The 3-2 decision unfortunately is not available yet online!

But the Indianapolis Star is reporting:

The Indiana Supreme Court today ordered a new Democratic mayoral primary election in East Chicago, saying the 2003 contest that longtime Mayor Robert Patrick claimed victory in was fraught with widespread corruption.

"When as here an election is characterized by a widespread and pervasive pattern of deliberate conduct calculated to cast unlawful and deceptive ballots, the election results are inherently deceptive and unreliable," the court said in a 3-2 ruling.

The high court cited a lower court's findings that Pastrick's supporters engaged in a "predatory pattern" during the campaign against George Pabey that included "weekly exhortations in meetings" and "direct solicitation of a vote for cash."

Posted by Marcia Oddi at August 6, 2004 02:28 PM