Ex-Demo chair, 3 others face April fraud trial

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana judge says ballot petitions can be used as evidence in a ballot fraud case targeting a former Democratic Party chairman and three voter registration workers.

Former St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chairman Buck Morgan is accused of ordering the three workers to forge signatures on the petitions to place Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Indiana's 2008 presidential primary ballot.

WSBT-TV reports (http://bit.ly/Z7aCNn ) that attorneys for the four defendants had sought to have the petitions thrown out as evidence in the case.

But a St. Joseph County judge ruled Monday that all of those signatures will be allowed at trial. That judge also ruled that all four cases will be combined into a single trial which he scheduled for April 22.

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Information from: WSBT-TV, http://www.wsbt.com/