Dannita Youngblood, who worked at city hall and for the city party, told a jury that her boss, Kelvin Ellis, informed Kern of the political realities in a conference telephone call, heard by others as well, within a week before the Nov. 2, 2004, election.

She said Ellis, a party stalwart and then director of regulatory affairs, told Kern he was perceived in the predominantly-black community as a "racist' and might need to spend $10 per vote to get support. She said Ellis described a need "to pay the voters to come out."

Ellis, party chairman Charles Powell Jr. and three others are on trial in federal court at East St. Louis. Neither Youngblood nor Kern, the former mayor of Belleville, was charged. Youngblood turned out to be an FBI informer. Kern did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment about her testimony...

...On Oct. 30, the St. Clair County Democratic Party provided $67,000 to Ellis and other East St. Louis Democrats to get out the vote. No county party officials are charged in the case.

St. Clair County is split into two separate election authorities. Kern trailed about 4,000 votes behind Republican Steve Reeb in votes tallied by the county clerk, but won by about 4,000 when the East St. Louis totals came in.

Kelvin Ellis is also charged with attempted murder for plotting to kill a witness to the fraud. Ellis is also accused of running a prostitution business from East St. Louis City Hall.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Carr said McIntosh came forward because he was tired of seeing corruption in the city.

He said the defendants, led by Powell, carried out a citywide scheme to pay voters to vote Democratic, including, "Finding alcoholics to take a 10- or 15-minute break and pay them to vote, so they can go back to drinking."