Yesterday, Gov. Matt Blunt appointed a
new head of the St. Louis city elections board.
What this could mean for the MO-Sen midterm race on the flip.
A local attorney is the choice of Gov. Matt Blunt to be chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners.
Kimberly J. Mathis will replace Edward R. Martin Jr., who Blunt has selected as his chief of staff.
[snip]
Mathis, 34, is an attorney with the downtown law firm of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin. Mathis holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University and a juris doctorate from Washington University.
So, just who is Kimberly Mathis? Well according to this (click on the podcast) in 1993 she was an intern for then Congressman Jim Talent. In addition, her brother, Tom Smith is a Republican consultant who handles money for several local committees in St. Charles.
For McCaskill to be competitive in the Senate race, she has to do well in both Kansas City and St. Louis - the bluest areas in the state. The election irregularites in St. Louis city in 2000 are well documented. Congressman Lacy Clay recalled:
I have zero tolerance for vote fraud and with the controversy over who gets to vote, I took offense to implications by some that thousands of people in St. Louis registered to vote from fake addresses, voted under the names of dead people and generally took part in some "carefully planned operation." Many allegations have since proved false and in some cases the state of Missouri was at fault. Both absentee and Election Day voters had problems in St. Louis when many found their names on the infamous "inactive voter list." Many were then denied a chance to vote. In anticipation of the problem and prior to the election, I urged the city's Election Board to act to protect voters. If they didn't a lawsuit would be filed to keep the polls open. On Election Day our worst fears came true and huge numbers of legally registered voters were turned away at the polls, resulting in a near-riot at the election headquarters.
So, what does this all mean for the 2006 midterm elections? What happens if there are the same types of voter irregularities this Nov.? Remember, those electronic machines will be used in St. Louis this time... Well, Senator Talent's former intern, whose brother handles money for the local Republicans, is now the head of the St. Louis election board. She'll be the one making the judgements about such matters on election night.
Just another reason to keep an eye on these people and not get complacent just because everything looks good here in September. They will not go quietly.