Probation given in recount rigging case

CLEVELAND, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A case against two Ohio elections workers for allegedly rigging a ballot during the 2004 presidential election has been dropped in a plea deal.

The two women, Jacqueline Maiden and Kathleen Dreamer, who were allegedly a part of a scheme by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to bypass a recount, entered a plea deal that gave them both six months probation without admitting any wrongdoing, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Monday.

Maiden, the board's third-ranking staff member, and middle manager Dreamer each pleaded no contest to negligent misconduct and failure to perform official duties during the election.

The women were allegedly in charge of a scheme to bypass a recount of nearly 600,000 ballots by setting up 3 percent of the ballots to match what was logged into the computer systems.

They chose to use tabulating machines that had already been counted, rather than selecting the ballots randomly.