Word: stinson
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With 24 Democrats and 25 Republicans in the senate, the victory for Democrat William Stinson gave his party control through the tie-breaking vote of the Democratic Lieutenant Governor. A victory by the Republican Bruce Marks would + have put his party in power. "This was never about Bruce Marks and Bill Stinson," says Frederick Voight, executive director of the Committee of Seventy, a political-watchdog group. "This was about who controls the state senate. The power and the money. The stakes don't get any higher than that...
What sparked the Republican suspicion was that the victory depended on a large number of absentee ballots. Stinson, a jeweler and beauty-shop owner, won by 461 votes of 40,575 cast. But Marks, a former aide to Senator Arlen Specter, led by 564 votes at the machines. It was Stinson's 1,391-to-366 victory in the absentee ballots that put him over...
Marks started to investigate, as did the Philadelphia Inquirer. Since the election, the Inquirer has found 333 Stinson voters who did not obey the law that restricts absentee balloting to those physically unable to get to the polls. Many of the fraudulent ballots were cast by Puerto Rican natives who say they were duped by people offering absentee ballots as "una nueva forma de votar" -- a new way to vote. "She said, 'Sign. I'll do the rest,' " recalls Carmen Silva, 55. "I signed. I didn't know for who or what." Others were encouraged to sign for members...
Marks, who dismisses five ballot infractions in his own camp as a misunderstanding, charges Stinson with massive election fraud. Furthermore, Marks says an ensuing "whitewash" involved the state's entire Democratic establishment. "Sadly, Philadelphia has a history of political corruption on the part of the Democrats," says Marks. Stinson denies that he stole the election, and the Democrats have returned fire. "This is bwhen Marks criticizes the courts for good, honest decisions," declares senate majority leader Bill Lincoln...
...lives in Stinson Beach, Calif., grew up in Honolulu and has been a TIME photographer for 13 years. His TIME campaign coverage won first place in the Pictures of the Year Competition in both 1984 and 1988. In addition to his U.S. political coverage, Bentley has shot assignments in Panama, El Salvador and Haiti...