http://www

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060110/NEWS01/601100336/1002/NEWS

DemocratandChronicle.com

Two admit voting twice in 2004

One says he did it to get sticker that got him free food and beer

Greg Livadas

Staff writer

(January 10, 2006) — Two Rochester residents have ended up in court after admitting they voted twice in the 2004 presidential election.

One claimed he did it to get another "I voted" sticker that entitled him to free beer and food at a local bar.

James Sugrue, 24, of 409 LaGrange Ave., pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to attempted voting more than once. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to perform 36 hours of community service.

Acting Monroe County Court Judge Stephen Lindley asked Sugrue, a registered Democrat, if he felt so strongly about the election that he wanted to risk a felony conviction to vote twice.

"He said he did it for the free food and beer at a restaurant," Lindley said. "He went into the restaurant, was low on cash and they take your sticker and give you free food and beer. The only way to get another sticker was to go in and vote again."

A co-defendant, Julia Brazill, 23, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to attempted illegal voting Nov. 1 and was sentenced Monday to a one-year conditional discharge.

Brazill, formerly enrolled in the Green Party, was last registered without a party affiliation.

Assistant Monroe County District Attorney Jennifer Renn said that each filed affidavit ballots in two voting districts in Rochester. Such ballots are offered to those not listed in the voter registry, perhaps because of a recent move. The votes are then made on the paper ballots rather than on the machines.

Democratic Elections Commissioner Thomas Ferrarese said 7,000 to 8,000 affidavit ballots were cast in Monroe County for that election.

"We go through every single affidavit ballot and check and recheck it," Ferrarese said. "We go through a lot of verification for affidavit ballots. If there appears to be some irregularities, we will turn the information over to the district attorney's office.

"We're trying to make people understand this is not something you should do. It's very wrong. We consider voting one of our most basic rights and freedoms and there are laws there to make sure no one votes twice."

Republican Elections Commissioner Peter Quinn said he could only remember one previous case locally of someone voting twice in the past 24 years.

"This is unusual for us," Quinn said. "But we have policies and procedures in place.

"I'm disappointed. We don't like to see any election procedures or policies broken."

Although voting more than once is a felony, Sugrue and Brazill's charges were pleaded down to misdemeanors because, in part, they had no prior record, officials said.

So without a felony conviction, Sugrue and Brazill are eligible to vote again.

GLIVADAS@DemocratandChronicle.com

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of political, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.