File this under "Stuff too unbelievable to make up." A follow up to the East St. Louis, IL vote fraud story. An excerpt from an article by George Pawlaczyk of the Belleville News-Democrat.
Top St. Clair County officeholders, who have long relied on heavy Democratic majorities from East St. Louis to get elected, said that until last month's federal trial they had never heard about vote buying locally.
"I have never, ever -- and I tell you this in all honesty -- I have never, ever heard anything about buying votes," Sheriff Mearl Justus said.
And Justus and other elected officials also said they believe county Democratic Central Committee Chairman Robert Sprague had no knowledge of vote buying before the Nov. 2 general election or at any time.
But not everyone agrees with them.
A vast majority of the 2,202 responses to a weeklong reader poll last week in the News-Democrat answered "yes" to this question: "Do you believe that the Democratic Party bought votes in East St. Louis during the November election?"
Readers responded three to one that they believed votes were bought.
Caseyville Township Supervisor Everett Moody, who was the target in April of an unsuccessful campaign by county Democrats to unseat him, said he has heard about vote buying for most of his 38 years in politics.
"If they say they never heard about vote buying, I'd have to say I doubt they're telling the truth," Moody said.
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