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0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Two more investigated for illegally voting in Ohio

The cases of two more voters accused of casting ballots in Ohio while living in other states have been referred by the Hamilton County Board of Elections to the county prosecutor for investigation.

The two are Naomi Lewin, a former classical music host at radio station WGUC, who moved to New York City in 2009 and Timothy A. Merman, who owns a home in Edgewood, Ky., but has voted from a business address in the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfax.

Voting from an improper address is a felony crime.

In the case of Lewin, board of elections records show she has voted in every general election since November 2009, using her former workplace as her voting address.

In June, after receiving a letter from the board of elections telling her to change her registration or be dropped from the voting rolls, Lewin canceled her voter registration in Hamilton County.

Board records show that Berman voted in Fairfax precinct A in general elections in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

The cases were among dozens brought to the attention of the Hamilton County Board of Elections by the Ohio Voter Integrity Project, a tea party-backed group of volunteers who have been scouring voting records statewide for voting irregularities.

Wednesday, the two Democrats and two Republicans on the elections board voted unanimously to refer the Lewin and Merman cases to Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters for further investigation.

So far, 11 such cases have been referred to the prosecutor, according to board chairman Tim Burke. The board of elections expects a report from the prosecutor soon on the status of the investigations.

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.