Election Fraud Cases
Details
Charles Barnes was arrested and charged for voting twice in the 2020 presidential election. He voted once in Florida and again in his home state of Connecticut via absentee ballot. Barnes was sentenced to a pretrial diversion program where his charges will be deferred at the end of 18 months if successfully completed. Barnes was also sentenced to 50 hours community service, ordered to attend a civic education program, ordered to pay $52 per month in fees as part of the pretrial diversion program, and fined $400 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3sgdH1J , https://herit.ag/3sbQIom, https://herit.ag/3scgt8p, https://herit.ag/385LhAH
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Jay Ketcik, a registered Republican, was arrested and charged for voting twice in the 2020 general election. He voted once in Florida and again by mail in his home state of Michigan. He was sentenced to a pre-trial diversion program of 18 months, where upon completion his charged will be deferred. Ketcik was also sentenced to 50 hours community service, ordered to attend a civic education program, ordered to pay $52 per month in fees as part of the pretrial diversion program, and order to pay $400 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3sdbHXX , https://herit.ag/3sbQ9v2, https://herit.ag/385SCQP, https://herit.ag/382XzK9
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Joan Marie Halstead, a registered Republican, was charged by the state for voting twice in the 2020 general election. She voted once in-person in Florida and then voted again in her home state of New York via absentee ballot. Halstead was sentenced to a pretrial diversion program where her charges will be deferred at the end of 18 months if she successfully completes the program. Halstead was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, to attend a civic education program, and to pay $400 in fines and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3CC07Md, https://herit.ag/3R2l2wa
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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
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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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Bret Warren, of Casselberry, entered a plea of nolo-contendere to two third-degree felony voter fraud charges. Warren's fraud was uncovered when five residents of Altamonte Springs noted they had not received their absentee ballots for the 2016 presidential election. The ballots had nonetheless been returned, and were filled out and signed. Investigators matched fingerprints on the envelope to Warren through a federal database, and DNA obtained from the envelope also matched Warren. Warren was charged with two counts of felony false swearing in connection with voting or elections, and after pleading nolo-contendere was sentenced to 154 days' imprisonment with credit for time served, and ordered to pay $468 in fees and court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3BieQaT, https://herit.ag/3yakStd , (Case No. 2018CF001075A)
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Spiro Colaitis, of Nassau County, New York, voted twice in the 2016 general election: once in New York, and once in Escambia County, Florida. Colaitis, a registered Republican, no longer resided in Florida. He was charged with felonious duplicate voting and pleaded no contest,. The court withheld adjudication, sentenced Colaitis to 24 months of probation, and ordered him to pay $518 in court costs.
Source: Case No. 2018 CF 001902 A, dailym.ai/2Msy7l1, bit.ly/2ZaPVrB
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Douglas Hornsby, of Miami-Dade County, was found to have illegally registered and voted, and to have improperly held public office, despite being ineligible due to a prior drug felony. In 1992, Hornsby was convicted in Tennessee of felony cocaine possession. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Florida, where state law required felons to petition to have their rights restored. Nevertheless, when Hornsby filed voting registration paperwork, he indicated that he had no prior record, and, as a result, was able to vote for a quarter-century. He even secured appointment to the North Bay Village Commission. When his prior felony record was exposed, he was remove from office. County officials similarly deemed him ineligible to vote and removed him from the voter rolls.
Source: https://herit.ag/2ZkXSv6
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Jennifer Scott, of Flagler County, is a felon who was ineligible to vote under Florida law. Nevertheless, in 2016, she fraudulently swore she was eligible to vote on her voter registration application and cast a ballot in that election. She was charged with perjury and voting by an unqualified voter, and pleaded no contest. Scott initially was placed on probation for 24 months, but shortly thereafter violated the terms of probation and was sentenced to serve 180 days in the county jail, with a credit of 147 days.
Source: Case No. 2017 CF 000936, https://herit.ag/3zMyxY5, https://herit.ag/3x2hJdK
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Victoria Stallings, of Flagler County, was convicted of felonies in 1983, 1994, and 1997. Her voting rights were restored after the first conviction, but not after her subsequent felonies. Nevertheless, she attempted to register to vote in 2008 and was rejected, but succeeded four years later, and was able to cast a ballot in 2016. She was charged with perjury and voting by an unqualified voter, pleaded no contest to the unqualified voting charge. and was sentenced to 24 months of administrative probation (to be shortened if she completed her GED) and ordered to pay $668 in fees.
Source: Case No. 2017 CF 000865 , https://herit.ag/3i4V3VZ, https://herit.ag/3iWan6j
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Walter Hoback, of Flagler County, registered to vote as a Republican and voted in the 2016 election despite being a convicted felon. Hoback was charged with perjury and voting by an unqualified voter, pleaded no contest to both, and was sentenced to serve one day in jail, with credit for one day served. He was also ordered to pay $618 in fees.
Source: Case No. 2017 CF 000883 , bit.ly/2NiI6Jf, bit.ly/2L4Z2Ai
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Gladys Coego, a temporary worker in the Miami-Dade County elections department during the November 2016 election, pleaded guilty to filling out the mail-in ballots of other voters in favor of Republican mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado. While she admitted to altering the ballots of at least two individuals, detectives believe that Coego likely fraudulently marked numerous other absentee ballots. She was sentenced to two years of house arrest.
Source: https://herit.ag/3zBqY6e, https://herit.ag/3x7DMQ8
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Former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant was convicted of a felony voting fraud charge, a felony election violation, and misdemeanor absentee voting violations. During the 2015 election while he was running for election, he coerced absentee voters to cast ballots for him. In at least one case, Grant personally solicited an absentee vote from a non-resident of Eatonville. Grant, who had previously served as mayor, lost the in-person vote, but still won the election with more than twice the number of absentee ballots than were cast for incumbent Bruce Mount. Following his indictment, Grant was suspended by Florida Governor Rick Scott. He was sentenced to 400 hours of community service and four years' probation.
Source: https://herit.ag/3nub8px, https://herit.ag/3mfSQJt
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Mia Antoinette Nowells, a campaign worker for former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant, was found guilty of coercing Layota Jackson to vote for Grant in the 2015 election. Nowells was charged with intimidating voters and tampering with absentee ballots. She was sentenced to two years' probation and 200 hours of community service.
Source: https://herit.ag/3f2Sx0u, https://herit.ag/3rDnnSu, bit.ly/2sAF7PP
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Deszi Marquis Hayes, an inmate at the Indian River County Jail, voted by mail from jail during the 2016 election. Hayes was serving a nine-month sentence following a felony traffic conviction, and Florida state law does not permit convicted felons to vote. Nevertheless, Hayes was able to request and cast a ballot because the process to remove him from the voter rolls had not yet been completed.
Source: https://herit.ag/2UWDyOT, https://herit.ag/374fYlS
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.”
