Republican Joe Walsh (or Congressman-elect Joe Walsh, as his staff now call him) continues to lead Mellisa Bean in suburban Chicago’s 8th Congressional District.  By his lead has shrank from 750 on Election night to approximately 300 votes today.  The margin was shaved in part to 6 Cook County precincts that did not return ballots on Election night.  The ballots, from Hanover, Palatine, and Schaumburg somehow ended up in Cicero, and from there they floated around until they reached the Cook County Election board around 10:00 AM the next morning.

More from Jim Geraghty at National Review:

“We are in the fight of our lives as we count ballots in Cook County,” says Nick Provenzano, the campaign manager for Walsh who is now signing his messages, “Spokesman for Congressman-elect Joe Walsh, Illinois’ 8th District.” Provenzano offers a description of an exceptionally odd ballot-counting process: “On Election Night, there were six precincts that were still not counted at 1 a.m. We discovered that they had problems in the polling place and were moved to nearby Elgin, Illinois to count the ballots.  At some point in the middle of the night all six precincts  — representing thousands of votes — had been moved to Cicero, Illinois for “safe keeping”

This reminds me of the “safe-keeping” of ballots in Minnesota during the Coleman-Franken recount. National Review continues to detail other irregularities:

“Identifying potential mischief, the Illinois GOP dispatched volunteers to track down these voters to ensure no foul play was occurring with these outstanding ballots,” Provenzano continues. “What they found was alarming. They documented their findings on affidavits and they were submitted to law enforcement for review.” The affidavits describe one voter who had not lived at the listed address in the past 15 years; a voter who a caregiver said “could not respond to questions because of dementia,” and a group of ballots sent to a Clearbrook home for the mentally disabled in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

This all sounds eerily familiar to the antics in Coleman-Franken, but Walsh, a surprise winner on Election night,  appears to be aggressively pursuing the investigation of irregularities. Sources tell us he has retained the services of the power house Chicago law firm Mayer-Brown. So while he is in the fight of his life, he appears ready for it

UPDATE: Here are the affidavits mentioned:

Affidavits IL-8

Cross posted at Election Journal

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Affidavits IL-8

The paramilitary organization came under fire in 2008 after Election Journal broke the videoof King Samir Shabaz and Jerry Jackson  intimidating voters with a nightstick outside of a poll in Philadelphia.  But that may pale in comparison to the Houston chapter, which appears to have an arsenal of assault weapons. In the video below, shot in June 2000, the Houston Black Panthers marched on the Texas Republican convention with “machine guns.”

Further raising tensions,  several months ago Shabaz, now the National Field Director of the group, surfaced in a video calling for members to “kill crackers and their babies.” It is unknown if Shabaz plans to be in Houston.

Citizens in Houston are encouraged to contact us with any reports of intimidation at the polls on election day.  If you have an iPhone, you can download our free voter fraud reporting app in the App Store (Note: Texas law does not allow video or photos to be taken within 100′ of the polls)

The app is available for free and allows you to join EJ’s nationwide network of citizens dedicated to raising public awareness of election fraud.  With iReport you can send information, along with photos and video, directly from your polling location with your iPhone.

The best way to stop fraud is expose it.  Download the app and join the team.

Available in the App Store as iReport2010

In May, Geoff Mackler, Adler’s Campaign Manager, along with Democratic consultant Steve Ayscue gave a presentation outlining the “DeStefano Plan” at the Camden County Democratic Committee headquarters:

“The goal was to take 5 percent of (Republican Jon) Runyan’s vote,” said a Democrat with direct knowledge of the Adler campaign and CCDC operations.

“Steve Ayscue designed the plan with Geoff Mackler following his lead.”

DeStefano first emerged in an internal poll circulated by the Adler campaign in July that showed him getting 12 percent of the vote. Until then he  hadn’t announced he was a candidate.

He was immediately dismissed by Tea Party groups:

“Peter DeStefano is not, and I emphasize, not a Tea Party candidate, by any stretch. He is a shill for someone else, but certainly not what the Tea Party stands for.”

Adler denied that his campaign was behind the deception:

“I know we weren’t part of it.”

Seems that wasn’t true.

Records obtained from the Philadelphia Courts document arrests for assault, robbery, domestic violence, and drug dealing by King Samir and Jerry Jackson.

According to one of his victims, King Samir does more than intimidate voters with his baton.  He beat the man in the head with the same type weapon he was seen brandishing outside of a Philadelphia polling place in 2008.

The beating, in 1995, was so severe the man was hospitalized and appeared in court with staples still in his head.

From the court transcript:

Q: Tell the court what if anything the defendant did

A: He hit me with a cane.

Q: What did it have on it?

A: Two D batteries

Q: Where were the batteries?

A: Wrapped around on top of the cane

Q: Is that the part he hit you with?

A: Yes.

Q: To what part of your body?

A: The back of the head, and I got hit in the jaw with a bottle.

Q: I notice you have three staples in your head, is this from getting hit in the head with the cane?

A: Yes

Samir (whose real name is Maruse Heath) plead guilty to simple assault and was sentenced to 2 years probation.

How could DOJ overlook this when they dismissed the charges against the Black Panthers? The Department’s trial team surely would have introduced evidence of the fact that Samir had beaten people senseless with the same type of weapon he used at the polls in 2008.  Surely this was evidence that he was a true intimidating force.

In 1998, Samir broke into the home of his ex-girlfriend and beat and terrorized her.  From her graphic statement to the Police:

I said I am calling the police and I dialed 911. I was giving the operator my information, that’s when he punched me in the face and told me to put the f*cking phone down. I dropped the phone. I picked up a paint pole to protect myself. He knocked the pole away from me. He grabbed my hair and dragged me to the stairs. He put me in a chin lock to stop me from screaming. I bit his fingers…  He told Vera “I am going to kill this b*tch.” He grabbed my hair and pulled it out when I tried to get away. I ran to the front door and the cops were there.

Samir was charged with Burglary, Aggravated Assault, and Terroristic Threats.  The charges were dismissed because his victim failed to appear at the trial.

Jerry Jackson’s first encounter with Police was in 1978 when he and another man stabbed and robbed a victim in Philadelphia. Jackson was convicted and sentenced for Robbery and Criminal Conspiracy, both first-degree felonies.  Jackson has also been arrested and served time for dealing drugs in the same neighborhood where he serves as a Democratic Precinct Committeeman.

Since becoming infamous for intimidating voters, Jackson and Samir have taken to posting photos of themselves posing with handguns. See here, here, here, and here.   A felony firearm charge can be brought against a convicted felon who is found in possession of a firearm, regardless of the intended or actual use of the weapon. Certainly DOJ must be aware of these photos.  Why haven’t they pursued charges under 18 U.S.C. 922 against Jerry Jackson?  Is he getting a pass on gun charges too?

This scandal is far from over.

From the Courier Post:

Last Wednesday, Fredric C. Samson of Mount Holly allegedly trespassed on the Runyans’ Mount Laurel property and took photographs as their youngest daughter, Isabella, played in the front yard, according to a Mount Laurel Police report.

The 8-year-old went into the house and told her mother that Samson was standing in the driveway, according to Jon Runyan. Loretta Runyan, a former Houston police officer, got into her car and followed Samson for four miles until he stopped at Rep. John Adler’s Evesham campaign office.

The Adler campaign issued the following statement:

“Last Wednesday a volunteer photographer took seven photos of the front of Jon Runyan’s house, nothing more.”

“We apologize if images of the Runyan property have brought any discomfort to Mr. and Mrs. Runyan.”

The Adler campaign has refused to say if Sansom is still involved with the campaign.

Mount Laurel police have confirmed that Sansom, a Burlington County Democratic Committeeman, is being investigated for harassment.

Personally, I think Fred Samson is lucky the police got to him before Runyan did.

Crossposted at Election Journal