Election Fraud Cases
Details
Monica Mendez was charged with 26 felonies after her involvement in an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to alter the results of the May 2018 Bloomington water board election. Mendez served as a volunteer deputy registrar and was responsible for registering new voters in her official role. During this election, 275 people in Bloomington registered to vote all using the same post office box as a mailing address. However, the address was associated with a subsidized housing company who was attempting the sway the outcome of the election. According to the press release by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton "Mendez ran a vote-harvesting operation on behalf of a subsidized housing corporation in order to influence the outcome of a utility board election." Mendez Mendez pleaded guilty to 26 felony counts including three counts of illegal voting, eight counts of election fraud, seven counts of unlawful assistance to a voter to submit a ballot by mail, and eight counts of unlawful possession of a mail ballot. She was sentenced to five years of deferred adjudication probation, 80 hours of community service, and fined $1,415.
Source: https://herit.ag/3OMoYQ8 , https://herit.ag/3bxUROc, https://herit.ag/3OHfLsv
Details
Mary Gebert, clerk for the town of Bergen in Marathon County, Wisconsin, was charged with one felony count of misconduct in public office, one felony count of election official destroying poll list, and one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing an officer during the 2020 General Election. Following the election, poll workers were unable to find one of the voter numbers, which they needed to match for accuracy. Gebert signed a random person's name without their knowledge to allegedly resolve the discrepancy. However, the person had moved out of Bergen and had voted in his or her new jurisdiction. Gebert pleaded guilty to one felony count of election official destroying poll list in exchange for dismissal of the other charges and was sentenced to two years of probation, fined $1,000, assessed $788 in court costs, and ordered not to participate in the administration or polling of any election.
Source: https://herit.ag/3tcPPPX, https://herit.ag/46qeQFS
Details
Michael Ray Overall was charged by the state in St. Croix County with illegal voting, election registration fraud, registering to vote in more than one place, and voting more than once, all felonies, after voting twice in the 2020 General Election. He voted once in person in Beloit, a town in Rock County, and again by absentee ballot in St. Croix County. He was found guilty by a jury of all the charges and ordered to pay a penalty of $4,711.90 plus post-judgment interest and engage in 80 hours of community service.
Source: https://herit.ag/3EYuqfY, https://herit.ag/3RIR6IF
Details
Christine Daikawa was charged with absentee ballot fraud (a misdemeanor) and attempting to impersonate an elector (a felony) after submitting her dead partner's ballot during the 2020 general election. Daikawa pleaded no contest, and was adjudicated guilty, to both charges and was sentenced to 30 days for the misdemeanor charge and 60 days for the felony which will be served consecutively and ordered to pay $961 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3RCOetk, https://herit.ag/3Cy05EF
Details
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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Roland Bauer, of Winter Springs, was charged by the state with one count of fraud in connection with casting a vote and one count of mail-in ballot fraud for submitting a fraudulent absentee ballot during the 2020 General Election. He requested, filled out, and submitted an absentee ballot posing as his son, who lived in New Mexico. The son contacted law enforcement to report that someone had requested and submitted a ballot on his behalf in Florida, despite his not living in the state for the past seven years and his being registered to vote in New Mexico. Roland admitted his role in fraudulently casting a ballot for his son. He was sentenced to a pre-trial diversion program of 24 months; upon successful completion of the program his charges will be dropped. He was ordered to pay $50 per month during his program period and assessed $5,519.36 in fees.
Source: herit.ag/40Mz8r3 , herit.ag/3RSN66x , herit.ag/3Sb2qf7
Details
Janet Reed, an Evansville Democratic Party activist, was charged by the state with one count of unauthorized absentee ballot, a felony offense. Reed sent illegally pre-marked absentee ballots applications to voters ahead of the 2020 primary election. Reed filled out the applications by pre-selecting the Democrat Party where voters were supposed to choose a Republican or Democratic primary ballot. Reed included instructions that the section in question "needs no input." Reed kept sending the pre-marked applications even after receiving warnings from election officials and the Democrat Party. Reed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation and ordered to pay restitution of $2,740 and court costs of $925. She was also barred from working on any elections during her probation. The court indicated that it would consider reducing the charge to a misdemeanor upon successful completion of probation.
Source: https://herit.ag/3VkpWGF, https://herit.ag/3TZLNlu, https://herit.ag/3Vmv4dc
Details
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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Donald Hartle, a Republican, was charged with two state 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, and after he successfully completed his probation sentence, he was allowed to plead down to a lower charge of “conspiracy to commit voting more than once at same election,” a gross misdemeanor.
Source: bit.ly/3sDDaDq , bit.ly/32up0tA , bit.ly/3116CaS, https://herit.ag/3i62yya
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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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Registered Republican Robert Richard Lynn was charged with a third-class misdemeanor for using his deceased mother’s credentials to cast an absentee ballot for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. He was sentenced to six months probation and 40 hours of community service.
Source: https://herit.ag/3Cmw4VO, https://herit.ag/3bauXN9
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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
Details
Shannon Brown, Commissioner of Gregg County, Texas pleaded guilty to charges of misdemeanor election fraud and record tampering. During the 2018 Democratic primary Longview City Council election, Brown organized a scheme to harvest absentee ballots with help from two paid campaign workers and his wife to increase the votes in his favor. Brown, along with his crew, solicited over a hundred mail-in ballots by assisting with absentee ballot applications, misleading voters about the requirements for voting by mail, and in some cases filling out the applications and falsely claiming that such voters were disabled, often without their knowledge or consent. Brown was originally charged with over 20 felony charges related to providing false information on voting applications. As part of his plea deal, Brown was sentenced to one year in jail which was suspended to a year's probation and fined $2,445. Brown was allowed to stay in office.
Source: https://herit.ag/3uVtk0S, https://herit.ag/3JBDN5J, https://herit.ag/3Bo6xf6 , https://herit.ag/3gMJvFv
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Randy Allen Jumper voted twice in the 2016 general election. He voted by absentee ballot in Arizona and again by absentee ballot in Nevada. He pleaded guilty to attempted illegal voting, a class 6 felony. He was sentenced to two years probation, fined $5,000, and is barred from voting in Arizona.
Source: https://herit.ag/3rBsT89, https://herit.ag/3yajZ43
Details
Larry Wiggins, 62, a registered Democrat from Sarasota, was charged by the state with one count of vote by mail fraud after he requested a mail-in ballot on behalf of his deceased wife during the 2020 general election. Election staff discovered the fraud during a routine check of the voter rolls, which revealed that his wife had died two years earlier. Wiggins forged his wife's signature on the ballot request form, and admitted that he intended to mail it back once he received it, but he was stopped by law enforcement. He pleaded nolo contendere to one count of vote-by-mail fraud, and was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, 100 hours of community service, and assessed $738 in court costs, fees, and fines.
Source: https://herit.ag/3Etplfa, https://herit.ag/3Vhy62G
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.”
