Dems to honor disgraced County Clerk who illegally created multiple keys to access ballot area

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The St. Joseph County Democrat Party announced plans to honor former Democrat County Clerk Rita Glenn through the South Bend Alumni Organization. Glenn left her position in disgrace following a REAL News Michiana investigation that uncovered she had illegally created multiple keys to gain access to the secured absentee ballot area. According to a newsletter from the SJC Democrat Party, Glenn is to be given the Ideal Baldoni Award for Distinguished Public Service during a ceremony on October 10th.

In May of last year, Republican officials discovered the existence of multiple keys to access what is supposed to be a secure location to store absentee ballots before they’re counted. The room in the County-City Building, in Downtown South Bend, is secured with two different locks, one for the Republicans the other for the Democrats. In theory, a Republican and Democrat keyholder must be present to gain access to the ballots. While Republican leadership was under the impression that only one key existed for each lock, it turns out there could be up to 7 keys total, with multiple Republican keys being held by Democrats.

DISCOVERY OF KEYS

The revelations came through simple confusion about when designated keyholders were supposed to be at the County-City Building to open the room. The Republican key holder was not immediately available to open the room, so Democrat St. Joseph County Circuit Court Clerk Rita Glenn grabbed what she called a “Master Key” and had what she claimed to be a “Republican” in her office open the door for her. That “Republican” is Helen Jojo. A quick search of her voting records show she has never voted in a Republican primary and is not considered to be a Republican by Indiana statute. In fact, the only primary she has voted in was in 2008 as a Democrat, according to voting records.

Former St. Joseph County GOP Chair Zach Potts brought up concerns about this “master key” during an Election Board meeting at the time. That’s where it was discovered even more keys existed.

WHO HAS THE KEYS

At the meeting, Rita Glenn claimed three people, aside from her, have Republican keys.

• Ben Horvath: Republican Election Board Chair — Voted in only Republican Primaries. Horvath is selected as the official key holder.
• Penny Stratton: Election Clerk and Employee of the St. Joseph County Circuit Court — Voted in only Democrat Primaries.
• Brian Davidson: St. Joseph County Buildings Engineer — Voted in Republican Primary in 2020, Democrat Primaries in 2019 and 2018.

Glenn also disclosed that there are three Democrat keys. Those keyholders are listed below.

• Brian Davidson: St. Joseph County Buildings Engineer — Voted in Republican Primary in 2020, Democrat Primaries in 2019 and 2018.
• Penny Stratton: Election Clerk and Employee of the St. Joseph County Circuit Court — Voted in only Democrat Primaries.
• Rita Glenn: Democrat St. Joseph County Circuit Court Clerk

IS IT ILLEGAL?

The intent of the law mandating the two lock system is to maintain election integrity. The law mandates there be Democrat lock with a key given to a Democrat keyholder and a separate lock with a key given to a Republican keyholder.

You can read the entire statute below:

IC 3-11-10-10 Absentee ballots to be kept under two locks in cabinets, boxes, or room; security of keys

     Sec. 10. During the period that absentee ballots are being received, each county election board shall keep the ballots in cabinets, boxes, or a room upon which there are two (2) locks, one (1) for each of the appointed members of the board. Each day the absentee ballots shall be placed in the cabinets, boxes, or room under the direction of the appointed members of the board. If an appointed member cannot be present each day, then that member shall designate someone from the member’s political party to be present with the key to the lock at the time the ballots are secured and at the time the lock is opened the next day. The key of each appointed member of the board shall be kept secure in the manner determined by that appointed member.

INDIANA STATE POLICE INVESTIGATE — LIE IN THEIR REPORT

The discovery of the keys and surveillance video showing Glenn illegally entering the ballot room led to an investigation by the Indiana State Police. ISP released their findings in January of 2023, where investigators blatantly lied about what had occured.

The report issued by ISP appears to parrot the point that Glenn made regarding her attempt to seek out a Republican to open the door to the absentee ballot area in May of 2022.

As mentioned above, Glenn did not seek out a Republican. Glenn had a woman by the name of Helen Jojo open the door. A quick search of her voting records show Jojo would be considered a Democrat by Indiana Statute. Those records could have been checked and verified in a matter of minutes by Glenn herself in the same building in which she worked.

Legacy media outlets, like WNDU, ran defense for Glenn claiming Jojo “self identified” as a Republican, when it would have simply taken Glenn a few minutes to walk to the Voter Registration office to verify Jojo’s political affiliation and just a matter of seconds to call the office.

The Voter Registration Office and the Clerk’s Office have recently merged. While they were separate at the time of the incident, they still worked hand-in-hand to run St. Joseph County elections and in maintaining voter rolls — meaning Glenn was not ignorant of the laws regarding political affiliation or the process in which to verify that affiliation.

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