Cuyahoga won't go after crossover voters

The AP reports:

CLEVELAND – Elections officials in Ohio’s most populous county decided not take legal action against voters who switched parties in the March 4 primary.

Cuyahoga County’s elections board had been investigating more than 20,000 crossover voters, mostly Republicans who sought to participate in the competitive Democratic presidential primary.

One question was whether any Republicans lied when they signed statements pledging allegiance to their new party, perhaps in the interest of giving likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain a weaker Democratic opponent for the fall.

At a meeting Monday, elections board member Sandy McNair, a Democrat, introduced a motion to subpoena a Republican who took a Democratic ballot and wrote “Today Only” on his pledge card.

McNair’s motion failed when the three other elections board members, two Republicans and a Democrat, said they opposed issuing a subpoena.

“We have so many other things we need to focus on,” said Inajo Davis Chappell, the board’s other Democrat. “I don’t want to second-guess voters.”

Falsifying election forms is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and $2,500 fine.

The board’s investigation discovered that 17,109 Republicans took Democratic ballots and 3,010 Democrats pulled Republican ballots.