Stone Investigated for Vote Fraud

Did Bernie Stone steal the last election?

Voters in West Ridge/West Rogers Park have long suspected that there was something funny about Ald. Stone's vote gathering efforts. The amount of support you hear for him out on the streets and what he received at the ballot box always seemed at odds.

Now, we understand Stone is being investigated for his use of absentee ballots:

Stone said that a man and a woman who live in his ward contacted him separately to report they had been subpoenaed to appear at the Cook County Court complex at 26th Street and California Avenue. The man said his wife and two daughters also were ordered to appear. The subpoenas were served by an IG staff member who left his card, Stone said, but when his constituents arrived at the court complex, he said they were interviewed by two assistant state's attorneys.

The questions centered on absentee ballots and whether their votes had been solicited by anyone and whether anybody else cast their votes, the alderman said.

Stone's precinct captains had previously bragged that they would deliver 2,000 absentee votes for Stone before the recent elections. They never reached this total, but they did generate about half that goal.

Voter Fraud techniques used by the Machine in Chicago has previously been documented by Peter Zelchenko's book, It Happened Four Years Ago. Stone's efforts appear to be similarly guided. We will follow this developing story closely.