Election Fraud Cases
Details
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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Charles Barnes was arrested and charged for voting twice in the 2020 presidential election. He voted once in Florida and again in his home state of Connecticut via absentee ballot. Barnes was sentenced to a pretrial diversion program where his charges will be deferred at the end of 18 months if successfully completed. Barnes was also sentenced to 50 hours community service, ordered to attend a civic education program, ordered to pay $52 per month in fees as part of the pretrial diversion program, and fined $400 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3sgdH1J , https://herit.ag/3sbQIom, https://herit.ag/3scgt8p, https://herit.ag/385LhAH
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Jay Ketcik, a registered Republican, was arrested and charged for voting twice in the 2020 general election. He voted once in Florida and again by mail in his home state of Michigan. He was sentenced to a pre-trial diversion program of 18 months, where upon completion his charged will be deferred. Ketcik was also sentenced to 50 hours community service, ordered to attend a civic education program, ordered to pay $52 per month in fees as part of the pretrial diversion program, and order to pay $400 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3sdbHXX , https://herit.ag/3sbQ9v2, https://herit.ag/385SCQP, https://herit.ag/382XzK9
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Joan Marie Halstead, a registered Republican, was charged by the state for voting twice in the 2020 general election. She voted once in-person in Florida and then voted again in her home state of New York via absentee ballot. Halstead was sentenced to a pretrial diversion program where her charges will be deferred at the end of 18 months if she successfully completes the program. Halstead was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, to attend a civic education program, and to pay $400 in fines and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3CC07Md, https://herit.ag/3R2l2wa
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Dedrick De'ron Baldwin, a convicted felon, was charged by the state with two felony counts of submission of false voter registration information and two felony counts of willfully voting as an unqualified elector, after he voted in the 2020 Democratic Primary and 2020 General Election. He pleaded nolo contendere to all four charges and was sentenced to 364 days in prison on each count, to be served concurrently, with credit for 47 days of time served. Baldwin is already serving a 12-year sentence for manslaughter and aggravated battery. The fraud was discovered following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement following an eight-month investigation of Alachua County Democrat election supervisor Kim Barton who organized voter registration drives that improperly registered several inmates to vote.
Source: herit.ag/3v3IQ9y , herit.ag/3BK8CU0
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Roland Bauer, of Winter Springs, was charged by the state with one count of fraud in connection with casting a vote and one count of mail-in ballot fraud for submitting a fraudulent absentee ballot during the 2020 General Election. He requested, filled out, and submitted an absentee ballot posing as his son, who lived in New Mexico. The son contacted law enforcement to report that someone had requested and submitted a ballot on his behalf in Florida, despite his not living in the state for the past seven years and his being registered to vote in New Mexico. Roland admitted his role in fraudulently casting a ballot for his son. He was sentenced to a pre-trial diversion program of 24 months; upon successful completion of the program his charges will be dropped. He was ordered to pay $50 per month during his program period and assessed $5,519.36 in fees.
Source: herit.ag/40Mz8r3 , herit.ag/3RSN66x , herit.ag/3Sb2qf7
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Philip Poirier was charged by the state with one felony count of casting more than one ballot in an election after voting twice during the 2020 General Election, once in Florida and then again in another state. He entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service and pay $200 in state attorney's office costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/41Bgd27, https://herit.ag/41MCava
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Anthony Guevara, of Naples Florida, was charged by the state with one count of accessing a computer without authorization and one count of altering voter registration of another without knowledge/consent, both felony offenses. Guevara changed the voter registration address of Governor DeSantis in Florida's state voter database. Law enforcement officers were able to trace the IP address from which DeSantis' address was changed to Guevara's home. He pleaded no contest to the two charges and was sentenced to 2 years’ probation (reduced to one year upon completion of specified conditions), 100 hours of community service, fined $5,421.39, and assessed $515 in court and prosecution costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3U0mzDQ, https://herit.ag/3VmvK2f, https://herit.ag/3VnCtcx
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Spiro Colaitis, of Nassau County, New York, voted twice in the 2016 general election: once in New York, and once in Escambia County, Florida. Colaitis, a registered Republican, no longer resided in Florida. He was charged with felonious duplicate voting and pleaded no contest,. The court withheld adjudication, sentenced Colaitis to 24 months of probation, and ordered him to pay $518 in court costs.
Source: Case No. 2018 CF 001902 A, dailym.ai/2Msy7l1, bit.ly/2ZaPVrB
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Douglas Hornsby, of Miami-Dade County, was found to have illegally registered and voted, and to have improperly held public office, despite being ineligible due to a prior drug felony. In 1992, Hornsby was convicted in Tennessee of felony cocaine possession. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Florida, where state law required felons to petition to have their rights restored. Nevertheless, when Hornsby filed voting registration paperwork, he indicated that he had no prior record, and, as a result, was able to vote for a quarter-century. He even secured appointment to the North Bay Village Commission. When his prior felony record was exposed, he was remove from office. County officials similarly deemed him ineligible to vote and removed him from the voter rolls.
Source: https://herit.ag/2ZkXSv6
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Jennifer Scott, of Flagler County, is a felon who was ineligible to vote under Florida law. Nevertheless, in 2016, she fraudulently swore she was eligible to vote on her voter registration application and cast a ballot in that election. She was charged with perjury and voting by an unqualified voter, and pleaded no contest. Scott initially was placed on probation for 24 months, but shortly thereafter violated the terms of probation and was sentenced to serve 180 days in the county jail, with a credit of 147 days.
Source: Case No. 2017 CF 000936, https://herit.ag/3zMyxY5, https://herit.ag/3x2hJdK
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Deszi Marquis Hayes, an inmate at the Indian River County Jail, voted by mail from jail during the 2016 election. Hayes was serving a nine-month sentence following a felony traffic conviction, and Florida state law does not permit convicted felons to vote. Nevertheless, Hayes was able to request and cast a ballot because the process to remove him from the voter rolls had not yet been completed.
Source: https://herit.ag/2UWDyOT, https://herit.ag/374fYlS
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Former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant was convicted of a felony voting fraud charge, a felony election violation, and misdemeanor absentee voting violations. During the 2015 election while he was running for election, he coerced absentee voters to cast ballots for him. In at least one case, Grant personally solicited an absentee vote from a non-resident of Eatonville. Grant, who had previously served as mayor, lost the in-person vote, but still won the election with more than twice the number of absentee ballots than were cast for incumbent Bruce Mount. Following his indictment, Grant was suspended by Florida Governor Rick Scott. He was sentenced to 400 hours of community service and four years' probation.
Source: https://herit.ag/3nub8px, https://herit.ag/3mfSQJt
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Eric Haynes, a Lauderdale Lakes City Commissioner, voted using a false address in the 2012 general election. He had moved to a different precinct before Election Day, but he still certified at the polls that he was living at his former address. He was fined $500 by the Florida Election Commission.
Source: https://herit.ag/3iQE3Sx
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William Hazard, 53, of West Boynton, pleaded guilty to one felony voter registration charge and three misdemeanor charges of attempting to submit false voter registration information. He was initially charged with multiple counts of false voter registration. He was sentenced to 10 days in the county jail, 36 months' probation, and was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine. Hazard was hired by a consulting firm to register Republican voters; in the process he illegally switched party registrations for multiple voters and even registered his uncle, an Iowa resident, to vote in Florida.
Source: bit.ly/2fvW7DS
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.”
