Ohio Voter Fraud Controversy Not Over?

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," October 17, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: This is a bombshell. The United States Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling that Ohio must adopt stricter issues to prevent voter fraud. The highest court in the land has ruled in favor of Ohio secretary of state Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, in the ongoing battle over Ohio's voting laws.

A federal judge and the entire United States court of appeals for the sixth circuit had previously sided against the Ohio secretary of state. They had agreed with the Ohio GOP, ruling that Secretary Brunner must give county election boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent or not.

The federal judge in the original ruling specifically cited questionable activity from the group ACORN as a reason for his decision. Secretary Brunner, declaring victory, says that by reversing the ruling, the Supreme Court has protected the voting rights of all Ohioans.

Meanwhile, there's more big trouble in Ohio tonight. The college news network Palestra is reporting that members of an organization called Vote From Home could be registering to vote in Ohio with no intention of permanently living there and for the sole purpose of voting in the important swing state of Ohio.

In the interests of full disclosure, FOX News has a financial interest in Palestra.

Joining us is Tiffany Wilson, graduate managing editor for Palestra.net.

Tiffany, tell me, what has your investigation revealed?

TIFFANY WILSON, PALESTRA.NET: Well, we spoke with the Franklin County prosecuting attorney Ron O'Brien, today, and he said that he's spoken with several of the members of "Vote from Home" and their attorneys. They have representation at this point.

And he said that they are looking into the intent. All of these members of vote from home, there were 13 registered at an address in Franklin County. They've all registered in Ohio. Four have voted already.

So they are looking at the intent, because if they knowingly voted in Ohio realizing that they were not legal citizens of Ohio, then it's a criminal charge. But if they just misinterpreted the rules and cast their ballots here, then they might have to throw out those ballots.

So that's where it stands today with the prosecuting attorney. However, he's also speaking with the boards of elections in each of these individuals' home states to see if they requested an absentee ballot there.

So if these people have requested multiple absentee ballots, it's going to be a whole other can of worms.

Watch Greta's interview

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. Now, do you know who brought these 13 people into the state? Who supported them, who paid them?

WILSON: They were independent. They came up with this idea. Most of them are Marshall or Rhodes scholars. They were studying at Oxford University in England, watching the election from afar.

They said, hey, Ohio has that great early voting absentee voting. Why don't we go there? We will have an impact.

So per their Web site they moved here in August. They rented a small house, put in bunk beds, and they've been camping out here trying to get people who typically don't go to the polls to register and vote absentee.

And then along with that, they decided to register and vote absentee as well.

So they're independently funded. They get charitable contributions. And per their Web site they have raised more than $60,000 to support their get out the vote efforts in Ohio.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Well, I know Ohio's a great state, but probably a group of 13 Rhodes scholars and Marshall scholars wouldn't typically move to Ohio. But I guess we have to see what their intent is, whether they come back.

Has anyone from either campaign contacted you in connection with your investigation?

WILSON: Not about this in specific. We've actually had a very difficult time getting a hold of the Democratic campaign to get their comment on the issues.

Tomorrow, however, I'm very excited. I have an interview set up with a Democratic lawyer to get their view on whether this is illegal.

We've spoken with Republican spokespeople and lawyers who have said absolutely this counts as voter fraud. The Democrats are speaking out tomorrow.

So this story is far from over, and it's just the tip of the iceberg what we found concerning voter fraud in Ohio. We are cross-matching names of out-of state volunteers with different boards of elections, and you'd be surprised what at what we are beginning to find.

VAN SUSTEREN: Tiffany, thank you. And Palestra.net, I want to tell the viewers to go there, because these students are breaking a lot of great stories.

Thank you, Tiffany.

WILSON: Thank you.

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