Democrats to reveal plan to prevent 'campaign of intimidation'

By JOHN MARTIN Evansville Courier & Press September 14, 2004

Vanderburgh County Democrats will introduce a team of attorneys today to monitor the administration of the upcoming election.

According to a news release, the local Democrats' "Vanderburgh County Voters Task Force" will tell reporters today about a plan to prevent County Clerk Marsha Abell "from running a campaign of intimidation on voters, similar to what she did during last year's city election."

County Democratic Chairman Stephen Melcher said more information would be given today.

Democrats last year accused Abell, a Republican, of trying to scare away voters by requesting police investigations of absentee voting practices.

Abell said she thought there were irregularities in absentee voting that needed to be investigated.

Among the issues the clerk wanted explored was the distribution of absentee ballot applications at a local homeless shelter.

A grand jury impaneled after the election reviewed the Evansville Police Department's investigation of the absentee voting process. No indictments were returned.

Abell will be leaving the clerk's office Jan. 1 and is a candidate for County Council in the upcoming election. She said Monday that she didn't know what today's news conference will be about but said she intends to run the election according to state law.

Melcher said Democrats will also discuss at today's news conference their support for having numbers listed beside candidates' names on the ballot.

The touch-screen voting machines Vanderburgh County used for the May primary election cannot place numbers on the ballot unless they are coded in as part of the candidate's name, according to representatives of the county's vendor, Election Systems & Software.

Abell said the Election Board will address the issue of numbers on the ballot at its next meeting, at 4 p.m. Sept. 22.