Ex-elections judge in Philadelphia admits to taking bribes to tamper with elections
Source: The Hill
05/22/20 08:39 AM EDT
Domenick J. Demuro pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to deprive persons of civil rights, and using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, the Department of Justice said in a Thursday statement. He has been convicted for his role in accepting bribes to cast fraudulent ballots and certifying false voting results during the 2014, 2015 and 2016 primary elections in the city of Philadelphia.
Federal officials said that during the former judges guilty plea hearing, he admitted to accepting bribes in the form of money and other things of value to add ballots to increase the total number of votes for individual candidates on the voting machines in his jurisdiction and for certifying tallies of all the ballots, including the fraudulent ballots.
Demuro fraudulently stuffed the ballot box by literally standing in a voting booth and voting over and over, as fast as he could, while he thought the coast was clear. This is utterly reprehensible conduct. The charges announced today do not erase what he did, but they do ensure that he is held to account for those actions, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania explained in the Thursday statement.
Demuro also said that a political consultant, who was not named by federal officials Thursday, gave him directions and paid him money to boost candidates for federal, state and local elections.
Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/499111-ex-elections-judge-in-philadelphia-admits-to-taking-bribes-to
The former judges sentencing is scheduled for June 30. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
truthisfreedom
(23,113 posts)UNMASK!
oldsoftie
(12,410 posts)So i doubt he was stuffing republican ballots. Possible i guess, if the money was right!
Of course the story is lacking a LOT of facts; who paid him? Who was he stuffing votes FOR? Was it one or more candidates?
brooklynite
(93,843 posts)3Hotdogs
(12,207 posts)he rose to the occasion with (paraphrased)
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin once voted here. In fact, they still vote here, today.
brooklynite
(93,843 posts)bucolic_frolic
(42,662 posts)What was going on in those several small city rural counties that broke sharply for Trump in 2016? I never understood why Trump was paying attention to mostly ethnic places where people rarely vote and never move, generation after generation. A billionaire comes to town and suddenly they are all wearing MAGA hats and chanting. So what goes on in Philadelphia ...........?
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)bucolic_frolic
(42,662 posts)let's hope they maintain more controls for fair elections in general elections. maybe the two parties keep each other in check.
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)Just saying. It doesn't take much to turn them into frothing MAGA-ites. They're primed for it.
radical noodle
(7,990 posts)So this is unlikely to be one presidential candidate. Maybe a local office? We really need to know who was paying him and who he was pushing votes for.
In the last few years I've begun to have no faith in our election system.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)would not work as hard to prevent people from being able to vote.
Freddie
(9,231 posts)So the real election is the primary and things can get ugly.
no_hypocrisy
(45,771 posts)About a decade ago, a judge in Wilkes-Barre took bribes to channel wayward youths into a private prison.
Or is it everywhere and the judges only get caught in PA?
DeminPennswoods
(15,246 posts)outside the poll and only inside on election day.
aggiesal
(8,864 posts)We should get rid of in-person voting.
Maybe vote-by-mail? Wait, that has the possibility to be fraudulent as well?
Let's do internet voting, nobody ever hacks that! Whaaaat?
Now I know how they'll try to get rid of voting altogether.
We're screwed.
SkatmanRoth
(843 posts)When the price is right, there will be individuals who will do the wrong thing for profit. The Republicans plan to cheat at every level in every race possible. Card check, voter ID, and purging voters is just the common ways they cheat, but good old fashion bribery is still an option.
Salviati
(6,002 posts)Then 15 years in prison is getting off extremely light IMO.
KS Toronado
(16,901 posts)Hope a Biden WH will outlaw voting machines, appears there's always fraud problems associated with them. Vote by mail will eliminate almost all fraud, one ballot = one set of votes with paper trail.
RobinA
(9,874 posts)Why would a Democrat stuff a ballot box in Philadelphia??
OK, a primary.
KS Toronado
(16,901 posts)not_the_one
(2,227 posts)$1,000,000 reward (net, as in after taxes) to ANYONE who can provide verifiable PROOF of election tampering, punishable by serving time.
It doesn't matter if it is for republicans OR democrats. Our elections are sacrosanct.
Get it out there so that the republicans KNOW that someone will drop the dime on them, and they will end up in jail.
If Putin meddles with electronic votes, SOMEONE will know about it.
If paper ballots are meddled with by someone at the USPS, SOMEONE will know about it.
For most people 1,000,000 is still a lot of money. And money talks.
Blooberg or Steyer, or both, could handle this easily.
DeminPennswoods
(15,246 posts)in Philadelphia. I am appalled by this behavior. I never witnessed anything like this and there were 3 other precincts in the same poll location as mine. The other election board members should never have allowed this - and there is a minority party (in Philly it's usually a Republican) board member. The number of voters should always add up to the total number of votes recorded, it can never exceed total voters.
Because it's so heavily Democratic by voter registration, the Dem primary is often more important than the general election.