HAMMOND | Flanked by glossy poster boards displaying dozens of mug shots, state and local prosecutors and investigators proclaimed Wednesday a high success rate in the war on Lake County vote fraud.

It's a battle that appears to be winding down, at least as it relates to the scandal-plagued 2003 East Chicago mayoral primary that spawned a multijurisdictional Vote Fraud Task Force. The task force charged 53 people with crimes related to the election.

"The bulk of these are behind us," Attorney General Steve Carter said Wednesday at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond. "While we don't anticipate additional charges, we remain open to receiving any new credible information."

Of the 53 cases:

* 38 have ended with convictions.

* three have been dismissed.

* one person was found not guilty by a jury.

* one person has died in the process.

Ten cases still are pending, including several in which East Chicago police officers were charged.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, who said he initiated the task force in 2003 with a phone call for help to the attorney general, said the prosecutions have broken down the old pattern of political intimidation that once fueled the fraud.

"You're talking about average people, men and women, and they were manipulated. And it was fear of losing their jobs or fear of their family members losing their jobs," Bernard Carter said. "These people didn't just wake up and say, 'I'm going to vote absentee in East Chicago.'"