Election Fraud Cases
Details
Neil Kitchens, a former Republican state assembly candidate, was charged with claiming a false residency for candidacy in the 2018 general election. Kitchens claimed residency in the 30th district, when he actually lived in the neighboring 29th district. Kitchens pleaded no contest to one felony charge of filing a false declaration of candidacy and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Source: bit.ly/3qDBZ21, bit.ly/3cnYvH3
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Alex Campbell, Republican city councilman and mayor pro tem of Crescent City, California, falsely claimed his residence was within city limits when submitting his candidacy for councilman. Campbell was charged with two felony counts of perjury and one count of false declaration of his candidacy and pleaded guilty to one count of making a false declaration of candidacy. He faces up to two years of probation and $20,000 in fines for his charge.
Source: https://herit.ag/3vJP26e, https://herit.ag/3ba1J0G
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Caesar Abutin, of Norwalk, voted under the name of his deceased mother three times between 2012 and 2014. He was charged with one count of impersonating another voter, one count of fraudulently requesting an absentee ballot, and one count of fraudulent voting, all felony charges. He entered a diversion program with supervised probation for 12 months and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service. If he successfully completes the program, the charges against him will be dismissed.
Source: https://herit.ag/2TCrAcu, https://herit.ag/3vLXjqd, https://herit.ag/3beDMoU
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Following a bench trial, Jan Wilson was convicted of voting twice by absentee ballot in the Nov. 3, 2020 general election, a misdemeanor offense. Wilson was ordered to pay a $500 fine plus court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3f22rzg
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Cheryl Hall, a Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump, falsely submitted at least voter registrations in which she altered the party affiliation from Democrat to either Republican or no party affiliation in connection with the 2020 presidential primary election. The discrepancy with the voter registration forms was discovered by a county election supervisor noticed that several of the forms had identical handwriting; several of the voters also complained to the Supervisor of Elections that their party affiliation had been changed without their consent. Hall pleaded no contest to 10 felony charges of submitting false voter registration information and was sentenced to 1 year of supervised release and fined $723.
Source: bit.ly/3HfruKZ , bit.ly/3et4uvW , bit.ly/32DxrTd
Details
2020 Eatonville Town Council Election
A judge overturned the results in the 2020 Eatonville Town Council Seat 4 election after finding that votes had been improperly cast. On election night, the initial vote tally was 262 votes for Marlin Daniels and 253 votes for Tarus Mack. After counting provisional ballots, the vote tally was 262 for Daniels and 261 for Mack, leaving a margin of one vote. Following a recount, two additional uncounted votes were discovered, both for Mack, leading him to be declared the winner. During a bench trial, evidence was presented that one of the two “discovered” ballots was not cast by the alleged voter, and that another voter was coerced by former Mayor Anthony Grant (who was convicted of voter fraud in an unrelated case) to vote for Mack, by suggesting that he would forgive overdue rental payments and not evict the voter if he voted for Mack. The judge ruled that those two votes should have been excluded from the vote tally, and declared Daniels to be the winner of the election to the Eatonville Town Council Seat 4 position.
Source: bit.ly/3FzrFR4 , bit.ly/3Hj6eEq , bit.ly/3qmnPEs
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Steve Watkins, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, listed a postal box at a UPS store as his residence on a state voter registration form while living temporarily at his parents’ home during a 2019 municipal election. Watkins was charged with three felonies - voting without being qualified, knowingly voting with more than one advance ballot, and interfering with the investigation intending to obstruct. He entered into a diversion agreement where his prosecution will be deferred for six months. If he complies with the terms of the agreement and pays a $250 fee, the charges will be dropped.
Source: https://herit.ag/2UWDzlV, https://herit.ag/3BJy7mV
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Paul Parana of Canton was charged with impersonating a voter after he forged his daughter's signature on an absentee ballot in 2020 General Election. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor election law violation, was sentenced to 90 days’ probation, and ordered to pay $1,100 in fines and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3eXnao7, https://herit.ag/3rGpyF0, https://herit.ag/378DNIU
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June 2020 Aberdeen First Ward Alderman Primary Election
Judge Jeff Weill overturned the results of the June 2020 First Ward Alderman Democratic primary election in Aberdeen, Mississippi, due to absentee ballot fraud, and has ordered a new election. Nicholas Holliday was declared the winner of the June primary by a margin of 37 votes over Robert Devaull. After Devaull filed a lawsuit challenging the results of the race, the Monroe County District court found that 66 of the 84 absentee ballots cast should not have been counted because they were not valid. A notary, Dallas Jones, was arrested for election fraud for notarizing ballots without watching voters sign ballots or checking their identification. In addition to the absentee ballot fraud, the court found evidence of intimidation at the polls by various public officials, including Mayor Maurice Howard, candidate Holliday, and Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Randle, which constituted violations of anti-electioneering rules at polling places.
Source: https://herit.ag/3idftfH , https://herit.ag/3BPBXeb, https://herit.ag/3iM4ubO
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Laurence Kahn, of Londonderry, was charged with voting twice in the 2016 election. Kahn voted in Elm River Township, Michigan then again in-person in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He pleaded guilty to the Class B felony charge for knowingly checking in to vote in Londonderry and casting a New Hampshire ballot after having cast a Michigan ballot. He was sentenced to 90 days in the House of Corrections, but his jail sentence was stayed for one year conditioned on his maintaining good behavior. Kahn was also fined $4,000, ordered to pay an additional penalty of $960, and is barred from voting in New Hampshire.
Source: https://herit.ag/3zrLgyL, https://herit.ag/3nMT77O
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Vincent Marzello, 65, was indicted on one count of wrongful voting for voting twice during the November 8, 2016 general election. The indictment alleges he knowingly voted twice by voting once as Vincent Marzello and once by impersonating a woman Helen Elisabeth Ashley under the false name he registered. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in prison, which was then suspended for a period of two years. Marzello was also fined $300 of a civil penalty of $3,000 with the remaining funds suspended for five years.
Source: https://herit.ag/3zpVAHv, https://herit.ag/3l01tYn, https://herit.ag/2XAi7EL
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Donald Hartle was charged with two felonies for voting twice in the 2020 general election, once under his own name and a second time via absentee ballot using his deceased wife's name. Hartle pleaded guilty to one count of “voting more than once at same election,” a Class D felony. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Hartle was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $2,000. If he successfully completes probation, Hartle will be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea to the felony offense and enter a guilty plea to “conspiracy to commit voting more than once at same election,” a gross misdemeanor.
Source: bit.ly/3sDDaDq , bit.ly/32up0tA , bit.ly/3116CaS
Details
Edward Snodgrass, a registered Republican and a Porter Township Trustee, was charged with one felony count of illegal voting after submitting an absentee ballot on behalf of his deceased father in the 2020 General Election. As part of his plea deal, Snodgrass pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of falsification, was sentenced to three days in jail, and fined $500.
Source: https://herit.ag/3BsROzS , https://herit.ag/3uVbsmM, https://herit.ag/3uRpXYz
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Domenick Demuro, a Judge of Elections in Philadelphia and a Democratic ward leader, accepted bribes to add fraudulent ballots to voting machines and falsely certify election results for certain Democrat candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections. According to the DOJ press release, Demuro “admitted that a local political consultant gave him directions and paid him money to add votes for candidates supported by the consultant, including candidates for judicial office whose campaigns actually hired the consultant, and other candidates for various federal, state and local elective offices preferred by that consultant for a variety of reasons.” Demuro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deprive Philadelphia voters of their civil rights and one violation of the Hatch act. He will be sentenced on July 20, 2021.
Source: Case No 2:20-cr-00112-PD , bit.ly/2QjjcNh, bit.ly/3vituMP , bit.ly/3tMuXKZ
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Bruce Bartman was charged with falsely registering for an absentee ballot on behalf of his deceased mother and his deceased mother-in-law in the 2020 general election. A registered Republican, he used his mother’s driver license number and the last four digits of his mother-in-law’s social security number to register them as Republicans in effort to cast fraudulent ballots for Donald Trump. Bartman cast an absentee ballot in his mother’s name, but did not obtain an absentee ballot for his mother-in-law. Bartman pleaded guilty to two felony counts of perjury and one misdemeanor count of illegal voting. He was sentenced to five years’ probation, is barred from voting in any election for 4 years, and is no longer eligible to serve on a jury.
Source: bit.ly/3yojLqr, bit.ly/3fuAtM3 , bit.ly/340i2cN
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.”
