$5 Buys Chicago Votes

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Vote-buying might be considered a Chicago tradition, but it is a rare allegation in a local school council election—until now.

Five parents at South Loop Elementary School have filed a post-election challenge with the Chicago Public Schools legal department, alleging that someone paid about a dozen men from a nearby homeless shelter to vote for two winning candidates in the waning minutes of the April 19 election.

The furor started soon after a group of men, with "disheveled appearances ... and reeking of alcohol" showed up at the school and asked to vote.

They were carrying campaign fliers for two of six candidates running for the community representative seats on the council. After voting, one of the men asked Principal Pat Baccellieri, "Where do we get our $5 for voting?"

"I was shocked," Baccellieri said. "When I asked him, 'Who said you'll get $5 for voting, what did he look like?' he rolled his eyes and walked off."

The Democratic Party is alive in Chicago.