Election Fraud Cases
Details
Hubert Jack was charged by the state in Hillsborough County with one count of election voting by an unqualified voter and one count of false swearing. Jack registered and voted in the 2020 General Election. He was ineligible as a felon with a prior conviction for sexual battery whose right to vote had not been restored. Jack pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to 6 months of probation and assessed $560 in fees, penalties, and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/47bCTsY , https://herit.ag/44FAyFb
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Michael Anderson was charged by the state in Hillsborough County with one count of election voting by an unqualified voter and one count of false swearing after registering and voting in the 2020 General Election. He was ineligible as a felon with a prior sex offense conviction whose right to vote had not been restored. Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of voting by an unqualified voter. He was sentenced to 6 months of probation, and he was assessed $560 in fees, penalties, and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/478rdY4 , https://herit.ag/3Oh8O2F
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Nathan Hart, 49, was charged by the state in Hillsborough County with two felonies, voting as an unqualified voter and false swearing. Hart was a felon whose right to vote had not yet been restored. He was acquitted by a jury on the charge of illegally voting, but found guilty of lying on his voter registration application. Hart was sentenced to 24 months of probation, 100 hours of community service, and assessed $701 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/41y8dip , https://herit.ag/40yAzIg , https://herit.ag/40vvro1
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Eugene Florence, a fifteen-time convicted felon, was charged by the state with two felony counts of submitting fraudulent voter registrations in Lee County in and around November 2021. Florence, working for a third-party voter registration organization named Hard Knocks Strategies LLC, knowingly submitted fraudulent voter registration forms with forged signatures for individuals who had not requested the forms and did not know or authorize Florence to fill them out. Although charged with only two fraudulent submissions, an affidavit alleged that 29 fraudulent registrations had been submitted by Florence and five others in Lee County and another 29 suspicious registrations were submitted by employees of the same company in Charlotte County. The organization was fined $46,600 for violations of third-party voter registration laws, including submitting registrations after the deadline, to the wrong county, and from residents of another state. Florence pleaded no contest to the two felony charges, was sentenced to 16 months in prison (to be served concurrently with another sentence he is serving for burglary), and assessed $1,498 in fines and court costs.
Source: herit.ag/3PG32d2 , herit.ag/3PFnfQ9 , herit.ag/3PDLxdi
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Luis Villaran was charged by the state in Palm Beach County for false affirmation in connection with an election and voting as an unqualified elector. Villaran voted in the 2020 election despite being ineligible since he was a felon and registered sex offender. Villaran pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 1 day in jail, with credit for time-served, and 6 months of probation. He was assessed $250 in court costs, fees, and surcharges.
Source: https://herit.ag/41rx5Zf, https://herit.ag/41PFbLD, https://herit.ag/41vJFqm
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Robert Rivernider Jr., a Republican Party activist and Donald Trump supporter, was charged by the state in Sumter County with 3 felony counts forgery of public records, fraud in connection with casting a vote, and passing a counterfeit instrument after submitting an absentee ballot that was not his own during the 2020 General Election. Rivernider forged his deceased father's signature on an absentee ballot and mailed it in. The Sumter County Election Supervisor noticed a discrepancy in the signature and found it was similar to Rivernider's own signature. He was convicted by a jury and is awaiting sentencing.
Source: herit.ag/3RO7qaJ , herit.ag/3tjyntD
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Derrick Robinson was charged by the state with one felony count of false swearing and one count of unqualified electors willfully voting after voting as a felon in the 2020 General Election in Alachua County. He has multiple felony convictions dating back to 1999, including child molestation, multiple burglaries, and possession of illicit drugs. Robinson pleaded no contest to the charges, was sentenced to 36 months in prison with credit for 25 days time served, and ordered to pay $671 in fines and court costs.
Source: herit.ag/3PDVasc , herit.ag/48ehyQk , herit.ag/3sSjFJx , herit.ag/3RhrkLv
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John Rider of the Village of Virginia Trace was charged by the state with casting more than one ballot in an election, a felony, for voting twice in the 2020 General Election in Sumter County. He voted once in person in Florida during early voting and again by absentee ballot in New York. He was sentenced to a pre-trial diversion program where he was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service. Rider was allowed by the court to pay out his community service at the rate of $10 per hour or $500 in total. He was also assessed court fines and costs totaling $400.
Source: herit.ag/3HYG6QS , herit.ag/3IkEoKZ , herit.ag/3K8lxnQ
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Christopher Coyle, the former Clark County Clerk Democratic candidate and former chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party, was charged by the state with 3 felony counts of filing a fraudulent report, voting outside precinct, and address change violation, after falsely claiming his residency in Clark County and voting during the 2022 election. He filed a false report with the Clark County Clerk's Office claiming he lived in Memphis despite having sold his home and not updated his driver's license or voter registration to reflect the fact that he was now living in Louisville, Kentucky. He then voted in person in Sellersburg on Election Day. He admitted the conduct and entered into a diversion agreement. The charges were dropped upon completion of the program.
Source: herit.ag/3NC4D1W , herit.ag/3RQ1Ch2 , herit.ag/3RRNCDi
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Bonnie McClendon, of Tompkinsville, was charged by the state with one felony count of first degree perjury and two felony counts of making or receiving expenditures for voting after her participation in a conspiracy by the Jackson family to bribe voters or obtain blank ballots from registered voters to help elect James "Darrell" Jackson, a Monroe County Constable, to the position of Monroe County Jailor during the 2022 Republican primary election. She pleaded guilty to all charges and entered a pretrial diversion program for 5 years.
Source: herit.ag/4dYrsZg , herit.ag/3X0k89e
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Lisa Jackson, of Mount Hernon, was charged by the state with one felony count of engaging in organized crime, 17 felony counts of making or receiving expenditures for voting, and one count of first degree persistent felony offender after her participation in a conspiracy by the Jackson family to bribe voters or obtain blank ballots from registered voters to help elect James "Darrell" Jackson, a Monroe County Constable, to the position of Monroe County Jailor during the 2022 Republican primary election. The fraud was uncovered after a tip was submitted to the Attorney General's Election Fraud Hotline. She pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Source: herit.ag/4dYrsZg , herit.ag/3X0k89e
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Sherrye Jackson, of Tompkinsville, was charged by the state with one felony count of engaging in organized crime and one felony count of first degree perjury after her participation in a conspiracy by the Jackson family to bribe voters or obtain blank ballots from registered voters to help elect James "Darrell" Jackson, a Monroe County Constable, to the position of Monroe County Jailor, during the 2022 Republican primary election. The fraud was uncovered after a tip was submitted to the Attorney General's Election Fraud Hotline. Jackson, who had prior felony convictions on her record, pleaded guilty to her felony charges and entered a pretrial diversion program for 5 years.
Source: herit.ag/4dYrsZg , herit.ag/3X0k89e
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Nancy Williams was charged by the state in Wayne County with 3 felony counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot, 2 felony counts of election law forgery, 5 misdemeanor counts of false statements on applications for absentee ballots, and 7 misdemeanor counts of receiving a payment to influence vote after participating in an absentee ballot trafficking scheme involving elderly voters at a nursing care facility. She submitted voter registration and absentee ballot applications for 26 legally incapacitated residents under her care without their consent. Williams had the absentee ballots mailed directly to her. She pleaded guilty to 7 counts of receiving a payment to influence vote in exchange for dismissal of the other charges, was sentenced to one year of probation, fined $3,500, and assessed $1,096 in fees. Similar charges against Williams in Oakland County are still pending.
Source: herit.ag/3EHTtE1 , herit.ag/3rdlfVE
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Kathy Funk, a Democrat Flint Township clerk and Flint County election supervisor, was charged by the state with one count of ballot tampering and one count of misconduct in office, both felonies, in the August 2020 primary in which she was on the ballot and won her election by 79 votes. Funk claimed someone broke into a room at the Flint Township Hall. However, her lawyer stipulated that she broke the seal on a secure ballot canister, which invalidated the ballots so they could not be counted, and no one else was charged with breaking and entering the Hall. Funk pleaded no contest to one count of misconduct in office in exchange for not receiving prison time and having the ballot tampering charge dismissed. She is awaiting sentencing. Her employment with the county was terminated in December 2022.
Source: herit.ag/3IkAgdY , herit.ag/3K6eb4i
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Larry Divis was charged by the state in Colfax County with one felony count of election falsification. Divis was a resident of Columbus, but falsely claimed that he resided in the Village of Richland when he registered and voted in the 2020 General Election. Divis falsely voted in Richland, where he owns property but does not reside, in an effort to unseat members of the Village Board who had voted to change nuisance ordinances, which upset Divis. He was found guilty by a jury and fined $10,000.
Source: herit.ag/3EGoTe2, herit.ag/45zCb74
Key & Definitions
Types of Cases
Any case that results in a defendant entering a plea of guilty or no contest, or being found guilty in court of election-related offenses.
A finding by a court of law that fraud occurred in an election, including judicial orders overturning election results or ordering a new election due to fraud.
Any civil case resulting in fines or other penalties imposed for a violation of election laws.
A finding by a government body that fraud occurred in an election, including orders overturning election results or ordering a new election due to fraud.
Any criminal case in which a judge directs a defendant into a pre-trial diversion program, or stays or defers adjudication with the understanding that the conviction will be cleared upon completion of the program.
Types of Voter Fraud
Requesting absentee ballots and voting without the knowledge of the actual voter; or obtaining the absentee ballot from a voter and either filling it in directly and forging the voter’s signature or illegally telling the voter who to vote for.
Illegal registration and voting by individuals who are not U.S. citizens, are convicted felons, or are otherwise not eligible to vote.
Voting in the name of other legitimate voters and voters who have died, moved away, or lost their right to vote because they are felons, but remain registered.
Paying voters to cast either an in-person or absentee ballot for a particular candidate.
Forging the signatures of registered voters on the ballot petitions that must be filed with election officials in some states for a candidate or issue to be listed on the official ballot
Registering in multiple locations and voting in the same election in more than one jurisdiction or state.
Voting under fraudulent voter registrations that either use a phony name and a real or fake address or claim residence in a particular jurisdiction where the registered voter does not actually live and is not entitled to vote.
Changing the actual vote count either in a precinct or at the central location where votes are counted.
Forcing or intimidating voters—particularly the elderly, disabled, illiterate, and those for whom English is a second language—to vote for particular candidates while supposedly providing them with “assistance.”
