Some Democrats in Ward 8 are trying to get the FBI to oversee the D.C. mayoral election because they fear Adrian M. Fenty (D) and his ally, Ron Moten, will pay people to vote in the September primary.


Sandra Seegars said the concern stems from last month's Ward 8 Democratic Committee straw poll. After Fenty prevailed over D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray in the poll, community activist and blogger Dorothy Brizill reported that Moten paid several young adults to vote in the straw poll for Fenty.

Moten, the co-founder of Peaceoholics, strongly denies the allegation. But Seegars has complained to former U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, who is now a deputy associate attorney general, about Moten's alleged role in the campaign.

Last week, according to Seegars, she got a call from an FBI agent who questioned her for 45 minutes about the upcoming election and the vote-buying allegations.

"He was asking me why would anybody pay a person to vote in a straw poll," Seegars said.