Election Mischief in the Harrison County Courthouse

I alluded to this in two earlier posts, but here's the full story, separated into matters of public record and what I've just heard as rumors from various people.

As a matter of public record, the Harrison County Republicans received two or three anonymous phone calls that, on November 1, one Shawn Donahue obtained access to restricted areas of the Harrison County Courthouse.

Shawn Donahue is a Deputy Prosecutor in the office of County Prosecutor Dennis Byrd. He is a Democratic precinct committee chairman in Harrison township and a former intern with then-congressman and current Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill. He is also (full disclosure) a good friend of mine, with whom I attended high school and college.

The phone calls alleged that Donahue entered the Courthouse on the evening of November 1, entered a restricted and locked area of the courthouse for the purposes of using county equipment to copy and fold a Democratic Party campaign mailing. This, in and of itself, is a significant violation of Indiana state election law. County resources cannot be used for the purposes of campaigns. County copy machines and electronic folding equipment simply cannot be used for political purposes.

Moreover, the restricted area of the Courthouse which Shawn Donahue entered itself had access to ballots and other election equipment. All of these materials could have been compromised when he accessed the area. Donahue is not an authorized election official. This is also a significant no-no.

The Harrison County Republican Party filed a public records request with the Harrison County Commissioners on November 2. The Commissioners met in executive session and approved the request. The surveillance tapes in the courthouse were pulled and examined on November 3. These tapes showed that Donahue entered the Courthouse on two separate occasions on the night of November 1, carrying some sort of materials (assumably campaign materials). Both times, he entered the restricted area and emerged again to depart the courthouse.

Upon the examination of the video surveillance, on November 4 the Harrison County Republican Party filed a request with the Indiana State Police for an official investigation of the matter. In addition to detailing any illegality, the State Police were notified in order to investigate and determine whether any election ballots, equipment, or other materials were compromised.

The above is all now a matter of public record. In addition to this, I have heard various rumors which people can ponder for what they are worth.

Apparently, it seems that the volume of the material that Shawn Donahue entered the courthouse with is not the same as the volume of material he had with him when he left. This might be a part of the folding process, or it might be the result of some deeper mischief.

Moreover, keys to those parts of the courthouse are quite restricted. Only a handful of them exist. The custodians, the clerk, the treasurer, and the auditor have access to these restricted areas. Donahue did not himself have a key. He had to obtain one from one of these people. The clerk (a Republican) probably did not give him one. The custodians, as far as has yet been determined, did not give him one.

This means, by simple virtue of elimination, that he had to have obtained the key to this restricted area from either the auditor or the assessor. Both of these elected officials are Democrats. They should not be giving keys to restricted areas to anyone, nor should they be letting people use their county offices and equipment in them for the purposes of political mailings or any other election shenanigans.

The very process of pulling the videotapes cost the county a thousand dollars or more, as a specialist had to come in from the surveillance company at a significant cost.

So what does all of this mean? First, it means that Shawn Donahue is in a universe of trouble. He potentially violated election laws by entering a restricted area and being in proximity to the ballots and election materials. He appears to have used county equipment and material for political purposes. He is a Democratic partisan, an employee of the county, and a former worker for Baron Hill.

Second, it calls into question the activities of certain Harrison County Democrats. At the very least, their party has used county equipment and resources (folding machines, copiers, toner, possibly paper) for a political mailing. An elected Democratic official, either Pat Wolfe or Rena Stepro, may have given Donahue the key to the restricted area that he entered on the surveillance tapes. On the furthest (and least likely) extreme, there could have been election fraud committed while having access to the ballots, election equipment, and so forth.

There is no guarantee that this is the only such incident with inappropriate access to the courthouse. There could have been other instances that just were not caught or noticed, or were seen by someone not willing to tip anyone off that something improper may have been going on.