ST. LOUIS • An absentee voting process revised amid allegations of fraud began Thursday in the special election for the 78th District state representative race

The process begins a day after the Missouri Secretary of State’s office released a report that “strongly encourages” the St. Louis prosecutor to review each absentee ballot cast in the race during the Aug. 2 Democratic primary to determine if any election laws were broken.

Irregularities in absentee ballots in that primary spawned a lawsuit by Bruce Franks, a political newcomer who was looking to unseat state Rep. Penny Hubbard. Although Franks, 31, got the majority of votes cast on Election Day, the large number of absentee ballots cast put Hubbard, 62, over the top. The total difference: 90 votes out of 4,316 cast. A judge on Friday threw out the results and ordered a new election Sept. 16.

On Wednesday afternoon, the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners met for the first time since Circuit Judge Rex Burlison’s ruling. The meeting was held a day after Gov. Jay Nixon replaced two of four commissioners, saying “the board was not doing its job.”