On Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m., Jerry Opperud, independent candidate for Warsaw mayor, has a meeting with the Kosciusko County Election Board.
Friday afternoon, Opperud filed a motion with the Kosciusko County Clerk’s Office citing voting irregularities and fraud. The meeting was confirmed by the clerk’s office. The election board consists of Democrat representative Tony Garza, board secretary and county clerk Jason McSherry and chairman Mike Miner.
Opperud said in his motion to the election board that he was “addressing ongoing knowledge and general concerns of voting irregularities and possible fraud. These occurrences are not new to politics, but represent a challenge to the integrity and outcome of elections.”
During an interview with the Times-Union, Opperud set forth four points that he would like to have the election board investigate.
Opperud said that he was voting in a general election at a polling station in Warsaw when a family member of one of the Republicans waked in and asked for vote tallies. Opperud said at that point the poll worker gave him a piece of paper with the vote tallies on it and he walked out.
Opperud also said that when he announced he was running for mayor that he was invited to the home of the Republican official and bribed to not run for mayor.
“It ended up being an, if you, would you, could you situation,” Opperud said. “I won’t be bullied into not running for mayor.”
In addition to his claim of being bribed to not run for mayor, Opperud said that there was a candidate who ran for mayor in the primary elections who did not live in city limits, but claimed to live in an apartment in Warsaw.
In another situation of alleged voter fraud, Opperud said that he checked the voter records and auditor’s records of another individual that allegedly committed voter fraud.
Opperud said that the individual owned a house outside of Warsaw, but registered a different address on his voter registration. Then in the 2011 primary election the individual voted in Warsaw’s city election.
Opperud said that he couldn’t let something like this go on without coming out and doing the right thing.
“This is not for vindictive purposes,” Opperud said. “I am doing this for the best interest of the community. It is not about me. I know these people they are good people, they have just allowed themselves certain liberties with government and it has become illegal.”
