Voter Fraud Report

Magoffin County Magistrate Gary Risner, Deputy County Clerk Larry Shepherd, and Tami Jo Risner (his ex-wife) were convicted of felony voter fraud for a vote buying scheme for a host of candidates in the 2014 election. An accomplice, Scotty L. McCarty, was also charged but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and testified against the others. His testimony revealed that the group had participated in vote buying conspiracies in elections dating back to 2010. He also testified that Larry Shepherd contributed $10,000 and Risner contributed $2,000 to the vote buying racquet, paying individuals $50 to vote for their slate of candidates. Shepherd also revealed that in a 2010 election, while acting as a precinct officer, he added 60 votes to the total for a candidate, and Risner signed the names of those who hadn't voted to cover the discrepancy. The U.S. District Judge scheduled sentencing for December 2016, with the charges carrying a maximum penalty of five years.