Miami County Suspects Possible Voter Fraud In Absentee Voting

by Steve Baker

TROY, Ohio -- Miami County Sheriff’s Department is looking into the possibility of voter fraud involving absentee ballots. Deputies have in their possession 70 sealed absentee ballots. The suspected voter fraud was brought to the attention of the Miami County Board of Elections, said Election Board Director Steve Quillen, after those who requested absentee ballots be mailed to them claimed they never received the ballots and notified the election board. “They are clearly fraudulent,” said Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal, who attended a special election board meeting Friday.

Those attending that meeting along with the Board of Elections and county prosecutor and his staff, included the sheriff’s department and postal inspectors from Cincinnati. The election board in Miami County had mailed out approximately 10,000 absentee ballots for this presidential election, said Quillen. As of Friday, 14,603 of Miami County’s 71,373 registered voters have cast their ballots. Of those 14,603, early voters accounted for 4,133 and mailed-in absentee ballots accounted for 9,160.

Those who still want to vote early can do so Monday at the Board of Elections on the ground floor of the Miami County Courthouse in downtown Troy from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.Polls on Election Day will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The election office in Miami County is predicting a record 80 percent voter turnout on Tuesday.