Agents from the state Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office spent Monday and Tuesday in Lawrence County continuing the investigation into a possible attempt of voter fraud in the 2010 general election.

“One of the agents stopped in my office Tuesday morning and explained they had 30 agents here,” Sheriff Jeff Lawless said. “They had two 15-man teams and were here to finalize the investigation into the absentee ballot issues.”

In early July Ohio Secretary of State John Husted asked the attorney general and the Lawrence County Prosecutor to determine if a group of Democrats had attempted the fraud. If so, it could mean prison time and a fine for anyone convicted of these crimes.

At issue are applications for absentee ballots that were sent to two post office boxes — 42 were sent to a box in Ironton and 77 sent to a post office box in Chesapeake during the fall of 2010. In October 2010, a board of elections employee noticed that the handwriting in the “Send Ballot To” portion of the applications differed from that in the section with the voter’s name. The board then contacted 10 voters to see where they wanted their ballots sent.

“All 10 voters replied that they wanted their ballots mailed to them at their home address, suggesting that the ‘Send Ballot To’ portion of the absentee ballot applications was completed after the voters filled in their applications form,” Husted said in a letter in July about the situation.

An investigation was launched in the fall of 2010 by then Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, which was turned over to Husted in January. Husted continued the investigation, sending agents to take affidavits from county residents. From that investigation the Secretary of State said in his letter there could be several election law violations that would be fourth-degree felonies.

Such felonies carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine for each conviction.

“If we didn’t believe there were irregularities that amounted to a violation of law we would not have referred it to the attorney general and the county prosecutor,” Husted said in an interview with The Tribune in July.

Soon after Husted made his request County Prosecutor J.B. Collier asked DeWine’s office to supervise the investigation.

“The allegations made involve individuals of the Democratic Party, including elected officials,” Collier said in his letter to DeWine. “In view of the fact I am a Republican and to avoid the appearance of any political motivation, I feel it would be much more appropriate for your office to handle the matter.”

According to the sheriff, the investigators this week were interviewing voters at their home about the ballots.

“They expected to have most of the interview process by Tuesday evening and did not report back to me when they left,” Lawless said. “My office was involved along with the prosecutor’s office to investigate this issue and being the sheriff of the county they were keeping me abreast.”

Lisa Peterson Hackley of the Attorney General’s office declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing.