Non-existent address on Stainbrook voter registration raises too many questions

When it comes to getting your address correct, you'd think most people would be pretty good at it.

Admittedly, there are some people who are dyslexic and might have trouble writing down their own address, but they at least know what it is and take steps to make sure they are accurate when communicating it.

Apparently, that's not the case with Robert C. Stainbrook II and the forms that have been submitted to the Board of Elections in his name.

Robert is the brother of Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party and a member of the Board of Elections. He moved from Ottawa County and registered to vote in Lucas last year.

He's not registered to vote in both places, which is a good thing.

He's registered to vote at 2526 Amara Drive, Toledo, 43615.

But there's a problem: there is no such address, according to the Auditor's AREIS system:

If you drive down the street, you won't find a house or dwelling - or a part of a house or dwelling - with that address on it.

When you register to vote, the BOE sends you a postcard telling you the ward and precinct numbers and your polling location. The postcard they sent to Robert was returned as undeliverable.

That wasn't the only one.

The Fallen Timbers Republican Club invited all candidates for precinct committee to attend a training/educational session. Their postcard to him was also returned.

Trying to give Robert the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he had the numbers mixed up, the FTRC reversed the numbers and sent a notice to 2625 Amara, which is in the Auditor's AREIS system. That didn't work. That postcard was also returned.

The returned mail isn't enough to make a fuss over, as there are many reasons such items are returned. However, combine the returned mail with the fact that no such number exists in the AREIS system and there is no such number on any dwelling and now you have too many questions with not enough answers.

The range of possibilities go from innocent to nefarious.

On the innocent side, Robert made a mistake when he put his address on his registration card. That's simple enough to fix - he just corrects it with the Board of Elections.

On the nefarious side, he doesn't live on the street and is fraudulently registered - with or without his knowledge.

To complicate matters, I've been told that the handwriting on Robert's voter registration card and his petition for precinct committee belongs to Meghan Gallagher.

Gallagher is the former executive director of the BOE who was recently removed. She is also known as a 'sometime' girlfriend of Jon Stainbrook.

Now, it's not too uncommon to have someone else fill out your forms so they're ready for your signature. But then there are what appear to be discrepancies in the signatures themselves.

Here is the signature on the voter registration card:

Here is the signature on Robert's petition for central committee:

And here is his signature on his voter registration card in Ottawa County:

I'm not a handwriting expert but I think there are enough differences to raise the question of whether or not all three are really Robert's.

Combining the signature discrepancy with the non-existent address, the information that the handwriting on the registration and petition forms is Meghan Gallagher's and even non-doubting people might begin to wonder.

I share this information not to cast dispersions on Robert Stainbrook II, but to ensure that the correct address is recorded for him and that he votes in the correct precinct.

And if the worse case scenario is true and the voter registration card and petition were NOT signed by him, the person who did so can be held accountable.