Election Fraud Cases
Details
Jerry Trabona and Kristian "Kris" Hart
Jerry Trabona, former Chief of Police in Amite City, was initially charged by federal authorities with one count of conspiracy to commit vote buying and three counts of vote buying and aiding & abetting after his involvement in a vote-buying scheme during 2016 Tangipahoa Parish primary and general elections. Trabona, who served as Chief of Police from 2005-2020, conspired with Kristian Hart, who served as an Amite City Councilmember since 2016, by soliciting individuals to buy votes for them and other candidates they supported in the Tangipahoa Parish 2016 Open Primary and General Elections. According to the indictment "Hart and Trabona provided individuals who were buying votes for them and individuals selling their votes with sample ballots and lists of candidate numbers for whom the voters should cast their votes." To conceal the purpose of these payments "Trabona had those individuals sign contracts falsely stating that they would not 'make any overture of any kind to any voter or other person of financial award or benefit in exchange for a vote.’" Hart and Trabona had the vote-buyers provide a list of the voter paid, and after receiving the list, would pay the vote-buyer up to $20 for each individual they had paid to vote. Trabona pleaded guilty to a one-count federal superseding indictment of conspiracy to commit vote buying. He is awaiting sentencing.
Source: https://herit.ag/3KgR8lx, https://herit.ag/3AFbDF4, https://herit.ag/3R3msX4
Details
Kristian "Kris" Hart and Jerry Trabona
Kristian "Kris" Hart, an Amite City Councilmember, was initially charged by federal authorities with one count of conspiracy to commit vote buying and 2 counts of vote buying and aiding & abetting. Hart conspired with Jerry Trabona, who served as Chief of Police for Amite City from 2005-2020 and sought re-election in 2016, by soliciting individuals to buy votes for them and other candidates they supported in the Tangipahoa Parish 2016 and 2020 Open Primary and General Elections. According to the indictment "Hart and Trabona provided individuals who were buying votes for them and individuals selling their votes with sample ballots and lists of candidate numbers for whom the voters should cast their votes." Hart employed vote buyers to identify individuals who had not yet voted and then take them to the polls to vote and pay them for their vote. In some cases, he transported individuals he paid to vote to and from polling places. Hart and Trabona made the vote-buyers provide a list of the voters they paid, and after receiving the list, would pay the vote-buyer up to $20 for each individual they had paid to vote. Hart pleaded guilty to a one count federal superseding indictment of conspiracy to commit vote buying and three counts of vote buying and aiding & abetting. He is awaiting sentencing.
Source: https://herit.ag/3CszrgO, https://herit.ag/3POPF6W
Details
Delores "Dee" Handy, of Crowley was found guilty of failing to mark a ballot as instructed when assisting an elderly voter, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to 11 months in jail which was suspended, two years of probation, and fined $800.
Source: https://herit.ag/3i9o8PS, https://herit.ag/3zFrFLL
Details
In the 2014 Turkey Creek election, incumbent mayor Heather Cloud was voted out of office by a margin of four votes. It was later revealed that Stanley Leger, a campaign employee for challenger Bert Campbell, had paid $15 each to four mentally impaired individuals in exchange for their promise to vote for Campbell. Cloud challenged the election. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals of Louisiana ordered that the four votes be struck and a new election be held, which Cloud won. Leger later pleaded guilty to illegal electioneering, receiving a suspended six-month jail sentence and 18 months' probation. He was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and $2,000 in restitution to Mayor Cloud.
Source: https://herit.ag/3rEwCBV, https://herit.ag/3zH51CV, https://herit.ag/3yb4kRM
Details
Former St. Martinville City Council member Pamela Thibodeaux pleaded guilty to falsifying information on voter registration forms to allow people outside the district to vote for her in the 2002 city election. She was sentenced to three years' probation, eight months' home confinement, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $1,500 in restitution.
Source: https://herit.ag/3x7rx6m, bit.ly/2tckUOT
Details
Tyrell Matthews Braud pleaded guilty to federal charges of making false statements to a grand jury in connection with his 2002 fabrication of 11 voter registration applications.
Source: https://herit.ag/375VMjf
Details
Lincoln Carmouche was convicted of voter fraud in the Marksville mayoral race for bribing a voter. He was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended, and two years of supervised probation. He was also fined $2,050 and ordered to perform 64 hours of community service.
Source: https://herit.ag/3l3BRcT
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.”
