Election Fraud Cases
Details
David Cole, a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the 10th District, was charged by the state with one felony count of false registration after falsely claiming he resided in Alabama’s 10th state house district during the 2022 Primary and General Election. He also voted in 2022 in the 10th district even though he lived in District 4. Just before filing, Cole entered into a $5-per-month lease at a home in District 10, which he never occupied, although he registered that as his voting address and had mail sent there. Cole falsely claimed that he sold his District 4 house. Cole's crime came to light during his campaign to represent AL-10 in the state's House of Representatives, but did not conclude until after the election, which Cole won by 973 votes. He pleaded guilty to knowingly voting in a location for which he was not authorized, was sentenced to 60 days in Madison County jail and three years of probation, agreed to resign from his legislative seat, and was ordered to pay $52,885.79 in restitution (all the money he made while employed as a Representative). A new election was held on December 12, 2023.
Source: herit.ag/47e4toi , herit.ag/479QgIU , herit.ag/3GUPxRw
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Gloria Lopez Torres, a San Luis City Councilwoman, was charged by the state with felony counts of conspiracy and ballot abuse after trafficking absentee ballots during the August 2020 primary election as part of a larger ballot harvesting scheme. Torres picked up 7 ballots from Nadia Lizarraga-Mayorquin (who was also charged and convicted) and put them into a drop box in 2020. Arizona law only permits family members and close relatives to do this. Torres pleaded guilty to one count of ballot abuse and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and fined $2,500. She may not run or be appointed to public office again, but she was allowed to finish her current term ending in December 2024.
Source: herit.ag/4aFU4Vw , herit.ag/4aK3Mq0 , herit.ag/3NOw8p0 , herit.ag/3tEqRcL
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Nadia Guadalupe Lizarraga-Mayorquin "Buchanan"
Nadia Lizarraga-Mayorquin (aka Nadia Buchanan) of San Luis was charged by the state with felony counts of conspiracy and ballot abuse after trafficking absentee ballots during the August 2020 Primary election as part of a larger ballot harvesting scheme. Arizona law only permits family members and close relatives to do this. Lizarraga-Mayorquin trafficked at least 7 ballots to Gloria Lopez and at least one ballot herself from a third party. She pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of ballot abuse and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and fined $2,500.
Source: herit.ag/47nHwiw , herit.ag/3vtrbeS , herit.ag/47nHEP2 , herit.ag/3S5dfke
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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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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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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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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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Leroy James Ross Jr was charged by the state in Alachua County with two felony counts of false swearing or submission of false voter registration information and one felony count of unqualified elector willfully voting in the 2020 General Election. Ross was ineligible as a convicted felon whose rights had not been restored; he has 12 felony and 30 misdemeanor convictions. He pleaded nolo contendere (which is treated as a guilty plea) to all counts. Ross was sentenced to 3 years of probation, ordered to complete 50 hours of community service, and assessed $621 in fines and court costs although Ross may perform community service in lieu of court costs at a rate of $11 per hour.
Source: https://herit.ag/3ZDp5US, https://herit.ag/46vrGCw , https://herit.ag/3ZH6MOP, https://herit.ag/3PIU1OW, https://herit.ag/3ZGu9aX
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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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John Boyd Rivers was charged by the state with one count of submission of false voter registration information and one count of unqualified elector willfully voting in the 2020 general election after registering despite being ineligible as a convicted felon. He was found guilty by a jury of willfully voting as an unqualified elector and acquitted of the other charge. He was sentenced to two years of probation and assessed $671 in court costs; he may perform community service in lieu of costs at the rate of $11 an hour.
Source: https://herit.ag/47aNPaA , https://herit.ag/47aNW60 , https://herit.ag/47c9cbA , https://herit.ag/3KecwJh
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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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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
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.”
