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Collegiate Times--Virginia Tech University
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=4386
Nader's Virginia campaign coordinator indicted on 10 counts of fraud
In September Nader's Virginia campaign leader Jim Polk adamantly denied
forging signatures on the Virginia State Board of Elections petitions.
by Jenn Basham
Associate News Editor
The Virginia campaign coordinator for Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader
was indicted on 10 counts of election fraud in Virginia Beach last week
following suspicions over petitions to get Nader on the Virginia
presidential ballot.
Jim Polk turned himself in to police Friday after a special grand jury
indicted him Thursday. According to the indictment, he made "a false
material statement or entry" on the petition from Aug. 5 to Aug. 18.
Harvey L. Bryant III, Virginia Beach commonwealth's attorney, told the
Associated Press that irregularities in the petitions were first noticed
by members of the Virginia Beach voter registrar's office.
The Virginia Beach voter registrar's office declined to comment.
Jean Jensen, head of the Virginia State Board of Elections, told the
Collegiate Times in September, "Some signatures were signed by people out
of state, most didn't qualify because the signatures were not of
registered voters, and some were ineligible."
When he spoke with the CT in September, Polk adamantly denied there were
any forged signatures, and accused the Board of Elections of "losing
signatures."
Rich Johnson, Nader's Virginia media coordinator, told the CT in September
that 400 names were never looked at during the procedure of counting and
verifying the signatures. The Board of Elections decided there were not
enough signatures to qualify before they even finished reading the
petition.
Kevin Zeese, a spokesman for Nader's national campaign, said he hadn't
seen the indictment, according to the Associated Press.
"I just hope this is not a political move to undermine the Nader
campaign," Zeese said.
Demetri Dokos, a senior English major, considers the obstacles in Nader's
campaign a sign that our political system needs to be revised. "The two
party system in general is not democratic. People won't vote for third
parties because they don't think they're worth anything. They don't think
they'll win," he said.
Polk formerly worked on the campaign of state Del. John J. Welch before
leaving to organize a Virginia Beach branch of the Green Party in 2002,
according to the Associated Press. He joined Nader's campaign in 2004.
Polk remains free on personal recognizance.
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