The press, which hyped Democrat accusations of voting irregularities int he last two presidential elections, is not noticing the recent convictions on vote fraud (by Democrats) in East St. Louis, Illinois.

But a federal prosecutor thinks that cheating pols might be noticing:

Feds Hope Convictions Curb Vote—Buying
By JIM SUHR
ASSOCIATED PRESS

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — As last November's election drew near, the boss of this city's Democratic Party talked casually about buying votes for the party's candidates for a few bucks each.

"We've been doing this 30 years. People are expecting something and when they don't get something, they'll hold it against you," Charles Powell Jr. said, unaware he was being recorded by an FBI informant.

In this desperately poor city where buildings are crumbling, the schools were broke for years and the deed to City Hall once went to a man to cover a multimillion—dollar judgment over a jail beating, Election Day chicanery seems to be about the only thing that runs without interruption.

Now, a federal prosecutor hopes Wednesday's conviction of Powell and four others on federal vote—fraud charges will at least discourage election tampering in this former industrial center 31,500 people across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

"I'm optimistic that everyone in this area understands that paying voters to vote is illegal and that if it goes on we will investigate it thoroughly and prosecute it as fully as we can," U.S. Attorney Ron Tenpas said.

Ethel Fenig   7 2 05

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit is on the case.