Election Fraud Cases

Gillian Yingling

Gillian Yingling and 18 others, of Rio Arriba County, including several local officials, were arrested on election-fraud charges, including ineligible absentee voting and false statements on absentee ballots. Yingling pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor voter fraud charge, receiving 364 days' supervised probation.

Source: bit.ly/2fL3qH7

James Vadella

James Vadella, brother of former Carbondale Mayor Joseph Vadella, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, as well as charges of forgery, conspiracy to tamper with public records, tampering with public records, and violations of the election code. Vadella conspired with his brother, Michael, to alter election results in a primary election in which he was a candidate by obtaining and falsely filling out absentee ballots. Vadella was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, followed by home confinement and probation.

Source: bit.ly/2udYp18, https://herit.ag/2VgRdjG

Michael Vadella

Michael Vadella, the brother of former Carbondale Mayor Joseph Vadella, pleaded guilty in county court to conspiracy, forgery, tampering with public records, and election law violations. He also pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Michael Vadella conspired with his brother, James, to alter election results in a primary election in which James was a candidate. The pair obtained and falsely filled out absentee ballots. He was sentenced to three months in jail, followed by home confinement and probation.

Source: bit.ly/2udYp18, https://herit.ag/2VdbWF4

Liz Diaz

Liz Diaz, a former 4th District town committee member in Hartford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit election fraud and to witness tampering after she registered ineligible voters to receive absentee ballots and intimidated a witness to lie about her reason for requesting an absentee ballot in a court hearing regarding the 1996 Democratic town committee election. She was sentenced to two months in jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/2VheVvT, https://herit.ag/2Zf8agl, https://herit.ag/3hQnAhw

Virgen Figueroa

Virgen Figueroa, a former town committee member from Hartford, pleaded guilty to absentee ballot fraud and forgery. In a plot with several other individuals to elect Democrat candidates for town committee in the 1996 election, Figueroa registered ineligible voters to receive absentee ballots and helped them to mark their ballots. She was sentenced to two months in jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/3AxQYR6, https://herit.ag/2UMDX6A

Edwin E. Garcia

Edwin E. Garcia, a former lawmaker and Hartford Police Sergeant, pleaded no contest to three felony counts of absentee ballot fraud, tampering with a witness, and accepting an illegal campaign contribution. Garcia and his campaign workers systematically registered hundreds of young voters and furnished many with absentee ballots that they neither qualified for nor understood. He received a sentence of one year of house arrest.

Source: https://herit.ag/3iMzg4w

Hialeah, FL

The results of the 1993 mayoral election in Hialeah were voided by a Dade County judge after the discovery of several forged absentee ballots. The judge found that one of the candidates had a 2-to-1 advantage in absentee ballots, which he attributed to "overzealous" campaign workers at an elderly home in addition to several non-residents and mentally incompetent people voting.

Source: https://herit.ag/3eYoNSo, https://herit.ag/371Bx6v

Jacqueline Rogers

Jacqueline Rogers was a campaign worker for James Holloway, a candidate for City Council. In the 1993 primary, she was paid $150 to dress up in a nurse's uniform with a certified nurse nametag and solicit "emergency" absentee ballots from patients. She instructed at least one voter to cast her ballot for Holloway. The primary was ultimately decided in Holloway's favor by just nine votes. The Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission barred her from participating in political campaigns for five years.

Source: https://herit.ag/3u2U6Sn

1993 Philadelphia Special Election

A 1993 special Pennsylvania state senate election was overturned by a federal district court judge due to absentee ballot fraud. This election was important as the senate was evenly divided and the winner would determine which party controlled the senate. Campaign workers for Democratic candidate William Stimson engaged in a massive absentee ballot scheme involving nearly 600 tainted ballots. After a surprising and extraordinary surge in absentee ballots seemed to result in a victory for Stinson, an investigation was undertaken.  Stinson was indicted for his role in the scheme but was not convicted.  Two campaign workers, Ramon Pratt and Barbara Landers, were convicted of misdemeanor offenses.

In a related civil suit, however, a federal district court judge determined that Stinson and others engaged in a scheme to steal the election, and Stinson was removed from office.  The scheme primarily targeted Latino and black voters by using intimidation, and deception in order to fraudulently obtain and process absentee ballots in violation of state law. Two Democratic city commissioners, Margaret Tartaglione and Alexander Talmadge, Jr., and an elections supervisor, Dennis Kelly, were also found to have been complicit in allowing the fraud to occur.

Source: https://herit.ag/3kmWmR8, nyti.ms/37Iz7L4 , bit.ly/2WDw949 , https://herit.ag/3lAcK08

Barbara Landers

Barbara Landers, a Democrat campaign worker, was involved in a massive absentee ballot scheme during the 1993 Pennsylvania special state senate election. She was convicted of 30 counts of misleading absentee voters, given a suspended sentence, and fined $1,000.

Source: https://herit.ag/3Cxo187

Ramon Pratt

Ramon Pratt, a Democrat campaign worker, was involved in a massive absentee ballot scheme during the 1993 Pennsylvania special state senate election. He pleaded guilty to 22 counts of election law violations for his role in the scheme. Pratt was sentenced to two years of probation for his involvement.

Source: https://herit.ag/2Z5MZx0

Frank Revis and BAPAC

The Fresno Chapter of the Black American Political Association of California orchestrated a ballot harvesting scheme in order to win 13 seats on various Fresno County school boards. Through a scheme organized by Frank Revis, BAPAC received over 1,300 absentee ballots delivered to addresses provided by BAPAC, not those of the individual voters. Over 250 of those ballots were lost, while the rest were disqualified as containing invalid signatures or otherwise having been illegally cast. The California State Supreme Court overturned the results of the election due to fraud and tampering with absentee ballots.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l3JK2i

Calvin McFarland

Calvin McFarland, an incumbent running for re-election to the Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors, was convicted on two counts relating to illegally signing absentee ballots. McFarland, a Democrat, lost in the primary, and after a lengthy series of runoffs and challenges, was indicted along with 13 other then-current and former county officials. McFarland was charged with six counts of falsely signing names to ballots, and was convicted of two. One of them charged McFarland with signing a ballot in the name of 'Lottie James,' and then falsely attesting that James' signature was valid. For each charge, McFarland was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. One of the prison sentences was suspended.

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

Sandra Sewell

Sandra Sewell was convicted on voter fraud charges stemming from her 1991 efforts to help Calvin McFarland fraudulently win re-election for a seat on the Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors. Sewell notarized fraudulent absentee ballots in the race. Sewell was convicted on eight counts related to the fraud and ordered to serve five years in prison and pay a $2,000 fine. Sewell, an attorney, was also disbarred.

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

Hardee County

Three campaign supporters illegally submitted absentee ballots during the 1992 Hardee County sheriff election. Although a grand jury found that no criminal intent was involved, the election was thrown out and a new one was ordered.

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