SD-59: A Bad Week For Kathy Konst
by Matt at Oct 2nd, 2008
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Kathy Konst cannot run on a second, minor party line this November.
Kathy Konst’s minority party candidacy in her race against State Sen. Dale M. Volker was invalidated Tuesday by State Supreme Court Justice Timothy J. Drury, who upheld Volker’s challenge to Konst’s nominating petitions.
The judge found that Konst’s Integrity Party petitions had 2,838 valid signatures, short of the required 3,000.
This isn’t going to influence the race one way or another, but I think this proves that electoral fusion is largely a distraction to political races.
A more serious problem for Konst is the revelation of evidence that she voted in Florida and in New York back in 1998.
Kathy Konst, the Democratic county legislator from Lancaster challenging incumbent Republican Dale M. Volker for the State Senate, voted on Election Day in Florida and New York in 1998, according to documents obtained by the Republican Senate Campaign Committee.
Federal prosecutors confirm that falsely reporting the place and period of residence for voting in a federal election violates federal law and constitutes a felony. But they also say the statute of limitations for any offense committed in 1998 expired five years ago.
Konst, however, vehemently denies the charges. She said she did not live in Florida in 1998 and claims the documents are “doctored.”
“It’s absolutely impossible,” she said. “I moved from there in 1992. It’s absurd. I swear on a stack of Bibles.”
While Konst may not be prosecuted, the charge is likely to become a major issue in the hotly contested election.
Officials of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office confirmed for The Buffalo News that Konst voted at the polls in the Nov. 3, 1998, general election at polling place 407 in West Palm Beach.
Erie County records, meanwhile, also show her voting at the polls on the same day in Lancaster.
This potentially could be a big problem for her, but then again, if Sam Hoyt can win a primary despite his exposed affairs with interns I doubt that Konst committing a felony will severely hurt her standing among Democrats in the general election.
Could Konst have been the victim of fraud? Perhaps… but depending on much this is pursued, it certainly makes me concerned about the integrity of voting down in Florida — a battleground state — when a Democrat who is no longer a resident somehow manages to cast a vote. If Konst did not vote herself in both Florida and New York, then the real issue is how was a vote cast for her, and what other non-resident Democrats have managed somehow to cast illegal votes in the Sunshine State.
I think a federal investigation is in order here. Konst may be innocent, but the Democratic Party in Florida may be guilty of massive voter fraud.