A Laurel Lake employee who was referred to the Summit County Prosecutor for ballot harvesting finally has been charged with a felony of the fourth degree.
Mary Cronin was the subject of a Summit County Board of Elections hearing August 3, 2022. Cronin attempted to walk a stack of ballots into the Board of Elections. When asked by Board staff if she was related to the voters, she replied that she was not. She was informed she cannot do that. Cronin said she has done it before and was going to do it again. She was planning on going to the dropbox of the Board parking lot if the Board staff wouldn’t accept them.
Summit County Board of Elections employee Cheryl Perrotta testified at the Board hearing that she informed Cronin this was illegal. Perotta told the Board Cronin was “going to do it anyways and walked out.”
Cronin got in her car and drove over to the drop box where she stuffed it with 15 ballots of Laurel Lake voters who are not her family members. Cameras caught video evidence of this. That video is below.
Board staff immediately removed the 15 ballots Cronin put in the drop box after being told it was illegal. Those ballots with Laurel Lake addresses were reportedly separated and not counted.
It’s unclear why Cronin felt the law did not apply to her. Her attorney at the Board’s hearing stated Cronin would be invoking her Fifth Amendment right. The Board of Elections hearing can be seen below. The full meeting can be viewed at this link.
After being charged with a felony, Mary Cronin hired Bill Mason as her defense attorney. Mason is well known as the very politically motivated former Cuyahoga County Prosecutor. Mason is an interesting choice of an attorney. A top notch and expensive hired gun for sure.
Hudson is important to the Democratic Party. Summit Party Chair Tom Bevan lives in the Hudson School District. His sister, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced she is retiring in February. The party has planted a flag in Hudson and Laurel Lake has been a big boost to their initiative. It’s not surprising that Bevan Walsh dragged her feet for a year to indict Cronin. A Laurel Lake staff member being convicted of a felony will be strong evidence of voter manipulation within a segment of Hudson’s vulnerable population. That’s not a good look. It’s also worth noting that Democratic Hudson Councilman Mike Bird sits on the Board at Laurel Lakes. It’s a tangled web.
Keep an eye on this case to see how the ending might be manipulated for Bevan Walsh’s replacement. It’s possible Cronin will be offered a watered down plea deal prior to Bevan Walsh’s retirement so the case can be taken off the agenda of her replacement and that replacement can avoid the campaign fodder of an active ballot harvesting case. There have been a number of recent continuances signaling the fix may be in.
