Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters: Nun may have committed voter fraud

CINCINNATI - Another case of alleged voter fraud was brought to the attention of the the Hamilton County Board of Elections Tuesday, this time involving two Sisters of Charity.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters sent a letter to Board of Elections director Tim Burke saying there's probable cause to believe criminal activity has occurred in the case of deceased voter Sister Rose Marie Hewitt.

Sisters of Charity confirm that Hewitt died on Oct. 4 of last year.

Board of Elections documents obtained in an open records request indicate Hewitt applied for an absentee ballot on Sept. 11, but it wasn't received by the board until after she died.

Hamilton County property records show Hewitt lived in a house on Neeb Road in Delhi Township. She shared a residence with Sister Marge Kloos, dean of arts at the College of Mount Saint Joseph.

Prosecutor Joe Deters says Kloos is being investigated as the person who sent in Hewitt’s ballot.

The matter wasn't discovered until a report was received from Ohio Secretary of State John Husted saying that Hewitt's ballot was accepted after she died.

Sisters of Charity president Sister Joan Cook said the organization is aware an investigation is in progress and is cooperating to the extent possible.

Beyond that, she said, “we are not in a position to comment because we respect their expertise in this matter."

This comes as the Board of Elections holds the second of two voter fraud hearings looking into people who allegedly voted more than once.

This Friday's cases include Madisonville's Melowese Richardson, who admitted to me earlier that she voted twice, but never intended to commit voter fraud.

To view a copy of Deters' letter visit http://media2.wcpo.com/pdfs/DetersLetter.pdf .