Visitors to Washington for the IMF/World Bank meetings might be perplexed by the recurrent mention by their hosts of one Anthony Williams. Williams is DC’s mayor but perhaps not for much longer.
He’s up for re-election but an electoral scandal has seriously endangered his chances.
Anyone wanting to participate in the election for a particular party must collect sufficient signatures from voters registered for that party. Two of Williams’ workers, father-and-son team Scott Bishops senior and junior, evidently weren’t too happy at the prospect of seeking out the 2,000 required. So it seems they improvised, apparently fabricating signatures – thousands of them. The two men have been referred for prosecution.
The forgeries came to light when checkers noticed that page after page of signatures appeared to have been written in the same handwriting. On closer inspection they noticed that Williams enjoyed support from a wide range of individuals. Kelsey Grammer, star of TV comedy series Frasier, had his name on the petition. Another apparently offering support for Democrat Williams was ultra-conservative secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld.
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and UK prime minister Tony Blair also pledged support. Comic Dudley Moore, who died this year, rose from his grave to add his support. The most bizarre signature of all was from Saint Paul the Apostle.
Retribution has been swift: as a result of his workers’ creativity not only has Williams been dumped as the Democrat candidate but the courts have also fined his campaign $277,000, a severe dent in his finances. All’s not lost, though: he can still run as a write-in candidate – voters can write his name onto the ballot paper.
