Election Fraud Cases

Cheryl Ali (aka Cheryl Jamison)

Cheryl Ali, 57, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges: unlawful assistance in voting, and falsely holding the position of an election officer. In the May 2014 primary, Ali voted on behalf of her mother, whom she claimed was ill. In the May 2014 general election, Ali served as machine inspector at a polling place even though she did not live in that division. Ali was sentenced to one year of probation and stripped of her voting rights for the next four years. As part of her plea bargain, the felony charges against her were dismissed.

Source: https://herit.ag/3tX2vH1, https://herit.ag/3zHOZZC

Robin Trainor, Laura Murtaugh

Robin Trainor, 56, and Laura Murtaugh, 57, were each sentenced to a year of probation and will not be allowed to vote for the next four years after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of election code violations. According to witnesses, Trainor, who was serving as the judge of elections at the polling place (even though she was disqualified from doing so as a public official), went into the voting booth with her husband and told him how to vote. She then stepped out of the voting booth, spoke to Murtaugh (who was serving as the minority elections inspector at the polling place), signed the election register under her 23-year-old son's name, reset the voting machine, returned to the voting booth, and cast a ballot in his name. Trainor pleaded guilty to two charges--failure to perform duty and falsely holding the position of an election officer--and Murtaugh pleaded guilty to failure to perform her duty. As part of their plea bargains, the felony charges against them were dismissed.

Source: bit.ly/2f8z2D8, https://herit.ag/3tX2vH1

Mark Atlas

Mark Atlas, of Worchester, Massachusetts, was charged in 2013 with voter fraud for voting under someone else's name. Although Atlas' attorney claimed it was just a prank, he admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding. The charge was continued without a finding for one year, and Atlas was ordered to pay $1000 in court costs, as well as serve 200 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y8oSu9, https://herit.ag/3x95sEq, https://herit.ag/3zHOMFO

Eugene W. Victor

Eugene Victor wanted to prove a point about the potential for fraud in New Mexico elections by committing fraud himself. Mr. Victor cast a ballot in his son's name and later turned himself in to the authorities. He pleaded no contest to a fourth-degree felony charge of false voting and is serving 18 months' probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3jG7WWR, https://herit.ag/3ExTzft

Hazel Brionne Woodard

Hazel Woodard, a Democratic Precinct Chairwoman candidate in Fort Worth, was concerned that her husband would not make it to the polls to vote, so she had her teenage son vote for him. The impersonation went undetected until the husband went to the polls later that day and tried to cast a second ballot in his name. Hazel was indicted for impersonation fraud at the polls, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to two years of deferred adjudication probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i4LiXS

Lorenzo Antonio Almanza, Jr.

Lorenzo Antonio Almanza, of Progreso, was convicted of voting twice in Progreso's 2009 school board election, once in his own name and once using his incarcerated brother's name. Almanza was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and five years of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3x92Upy, https://herit.ag/3yl7X7K

Reyna Almanza

Almanza was charged with illegal voting and voter impersonation in a 2009 school district election. Almanza and one of her sons cast votes at a polling place. Later, Almanza brought her son back to the polls, where he cast a vote in the name of his incarcerated brother. She received a two-year suspended sentence, five years' probation, 90 days in county jail, and court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BL5CVW, https://herit.ag/3f22riK, https://herit.ag/370ayrY

Delores McMillian

Delores McMillian, a poll worker in Dallas, pleaded guilty to trying to vote using another person's voter registration information in the 2010 primary election. Another poll worker prevented her from casting a falsified ballot. She was sentenced to one year of probation and was ordered to pay $227 in court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/2THy222, https://herit.ag/3l5Qnku

Jack Carol Crowder

Jack Carol Crowder pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent use of identifying information. Crowder impersonated his deceased father in the 2008 Democratic primary in Harris County. Crowder used his father's registration card to cast a ballot in his name. He was sentenced to one year of deferred adjudication and ordered to pay a $200 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y9yt48, https://herit.ag/3zHOOxq

Mary Lou Simpson

Mary Lou Simpson of Manchester was arrested after the 2004 election for attempting to vote in the name of her deceased sister. Ms. Simpson was spotted by a poll worker who recognized that she had already voted earlier in the day. The facts have been confirmed by the district attorney's office which prosecuted the case. The then 63-year-old woman was convicted of a Class E felony which is punishable by up to two years in prison.

Source: https://herit.ag/2WrcWWF

Shasta Nicole Crayton

Crayton was convicted of impersonation fraud for illegally voting in her sister's name during the 2002 election. She was caught when her sister tried to vote and the poll workers at the precinct found that her name had already been marked as having voted. Crayton pleaded guilty and received a two-year prison sentence, which was reduced to time already served plus two years' probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/2TE59Up