Election Fraud Cases

Louis and Jane Kwiatkowski

The Wisconsin couple was convicted of voting twice, with each casting absentee ballots in elections in the town of Wyocena, where they owned a cabin, before later voting in the city of Blooming Grove. The victor in the Wyocena trustee's race--who also happened to be the Kwiatkowskis' preferred candidate--won by a two-vote margin, prompting the judge to declare that the couple's fraud swung the election. Mr. Kwiatkowski was fined $2,000 and his wife received a $1,500 fine.

Source: bit.ly/2fLkwVj

Lavelle Morris

Lavelle Morris pleaded guilty to a felony charge of Voting by a Disqualified Person. Morris, a felon, was previously convicted of Attempted First Degree Intentional Homicide and thus ineligible. He nevertheless voted in the 2008 election. Morris was sentenced to serve 90 days in prison.

Source: bit.ly/2ttqcaq, bit.ly/2rVaDpH

James Surkamp

James Surkamp pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized presence in a polling place. Surkamp, while serving as Jefferson County Commissioner, voted twice in a 2009 referendum. He cast his first vote during the early voting period and then attempted to vote again on election day. Surkamp, who subsequently lost his re-election bid in the 2010 Democratic primary, was ordered to write a letter to the Secretary of State admitting his guilt, as well as pay a $100 fine and court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rCDHCY, https://herit.ag/3y9du1n, https://herit.ag/3zBAh64

James and Karen Marshall

The Marshalls, residents of Green Valley, Arizona, admitted that they voted by mail in Kansas during the 2008 election--after they had become residents of Arizona. The couple also cast votes in Arizona during the same election. The pair pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were sentenced to a year of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3x7RKl9, https://herit.ag/3zBA6aU,

Lillian Cummings Stevenson

In 2009, Lillian Cummings Stevenson agreed to a consent order after the State Elections Enforcement Commission found her guilty of illegally signing and submitting two absentee ballot request forms on behalf of her sons, who were living in Europe. She was given a $200 fine.

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

Walter A. Coiner

Walter A. Coiner pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor voter fraud charge after acknowledging that he tried voting twice in the November 2008 election. He voted by absentee ballot in Twin Falls and in person in Ketchum. Coiner was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay a $375 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i30NPX

Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick

Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick is a native and citizen of Peru who became a non-citizen permanent resident in 2004. When she applied for a driver's license, Fitzpatrick also filled out a "Motor Voter" registration form on which she falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen. She subsequently voted in the 2006 federal election. In 2007, while applying for naturalization, Fitzpatrick acknowledged to immigration officials that she had registered and voted. Fitzpatrick's application was denied and she was ordered removed from the country because of this violation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i4ocAG, https://herit.ag/3l1MWLR, https://herit.ag/3xbrupU

Anthony Kimani

Anthony Kimani, a citizen of Kenya, illegally registered and voted in the 2004 general election. Kimani first entered the United States on a visitor's visa, which expired in 2000. He remained in the country illegally, later applying for permanent residency after marrying a U.S. citizen in 2003. Kimani was ordered deported after officials discovered his illegal vote. Kimani admitted to voting, but claimed "entrapment by estoppel," specifically indicating that the form he filled out for a driver's license included an option to register to vote. The three judge panel on the Seventh Circuit rejected the argument, pointing out that Kimani had falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on that form, and affirmed his deportation.

Source: https://herit.ag/377vBZH, https://herit.ag/2ZoOFm4

Howard Duncan

Howard Duncan pleaded no contest to knowingly and willfully voting more than once in the 2004 general election.

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

Robert Madon

Robert Madon, a former mayor of Pineville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to buy votes in his November 2006 election. He used his son to pay voters $10_$20 to cast absentee ballots for him in the election, even paying one woman $50 to leave town after her absentee ballot was refused when she told town officials she would not be out of town on Election Day. He was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, two years of supervised release, and fined $4,000.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i9HEvX, bit.ly/2sADmlQ, https://herit.ag/3l22nDF

Brent Madon

Brent Madon, of Pineville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to buy votes after he paid voters $10_$20 to vote for his father, a candidate for Pineville mayor in the November 2006 election, using absentee ballots. He was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release, the first six months of which were spent in home confinement.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f4EZl5, bit.ly/2sADmlQ, https://herit.ag/3BOI42A

James Keith Lesure

James Keith Lesure was charged with falsely registered ineligible voters in the 2008 election in St. Paul, Minnesota. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year imprisonment (later stayed) and six months' probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i4LmH6 , https://herit.ag/3iQE8FP

Matthew James Hinman

Matthew Hinman was charged with false registration and knowingly voting while ineligible in the 2008 election. He was convicted of the later and was sentenced to one year in prison, one year of unsupervised probation, and a $3,000 fine (of which $2,700 was stayed for one year).

Source: https://herit.ag/3x9XDOy, https://herit.ag/3l01rjd

Clint Moffitt and Ada Tucker

Clint Moffitt, candidate for Benton County Sheriff, and Ada Tucker were convicted of conspiracy to commit voter fraud in the 2007 primary and runoff elections. Tucker was sentenced to five years, with the first year in prison, second year under house arrest, and three years under supervised release. Moffitt received two years in prison, one under house arrest, and two years of supervised release. Both were ordered to pay $5,000 in fines.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rETQYM, https://herit.ag/374fSuw

John Fernandez, Edwin Cruz, and Rocio Rivera

Rocio Rivera and Edwin Cruz were indicted for tampering with ballots and fraudulently submitting ballots in favor of New Jersey Senator Teresa Ruiz. They and a fellow co-conspirator obtained messenger ballots from the county clerk and submitted them to the board of elections as votes on behalf of voters who, in fact, never received or filled out their ballots. John Fernandez was convicted of conspiracy (2nd degree), election fraud (2nd degree), absentee ballot fraud (3rd degree), tampering with public records or information (3rd degree), and forgery (4th degree). Cruz pleaded guilty to third-degree tampering with public records or information, and Rivera pleaded guilty to third-degree absentee ballot fraud.

Source: https://herit.ag/3x2taC8