ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – Concerned St. Charles County voters gathered Monday night to speak on suspected election interference and fraud.
Jen Bahr won her seat as Cottleville Township Committeewoman last Tuesday by a remarkable single vote. While the total tally already opens the conversation of a recount, some are questioning the legitimacy of the outcome based on Jen Bahr’s marriage to Kurt Bahr, the St. Charles County Director of Elections.
Several election judges are stepping forward, willing to submit signed affidavits claiming that Mr. Bahr “illegally electioneered within a polling place on behalf of his wife.”
Another cause of concern is that the county election website wasn’t updating with results during Tuesday’s primary election, blaming the delay on a glitch in the website’s software. Many constituents are calling to get rid of the vendor tabulation system altogether and revert to hand-counting votes. Many are also calling for a total forensic recount.
At the end of public comments, Representative Joe Brazil played an impromptu video not on the agenda. In the video, a meeting and a phone call were shared. The meeting was between supposed election security officials, including the Director of Elections Kurt Bahr and Assistant Director Mark Parkison.
Bahr and Parkinson admit to tampering with St. Charles County’s electronic voting machines by breaking the security seals to physically access 100% of the machines in the county to disable their Ethernet connectivity. The two did not keep a log of any of this information.
One of the experts in the meeting informed the officials that, due to failed requirements and a lack of documentation, the cut wires invalidated the certification of the voting machines set forth by the EAC and VVSG.
In the next part of the video, a phone call between Brazil and Parkinson is played, where Parkinson says he lied about tampering with the Ethernet wire because he “wanted to elicit a response from the experts.”
Many of the people who spoke demanded Mr. Bahr’s resignation and an investigation into Tenex, the county’s vendor.
Councilman Timothy Baker from District 7 said he believes the best thing to do is to read through the charter with the newly elected officials and see what can be changed for more accountability to go into the election process in St. Charles County.
