Election Fraud Cases
Details
Jessica Dowless, of Wake County, was charged by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2018 general election. Dowless was charged with conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, swearing falsely, and conspiracy to swear falsely. Dowless and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Dowless and others unlawfully collected ballots from voters, falsely claimed to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mailed the ballots in a manner intended to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Dowless pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to swear falsely in exchange for dismissal of the other charges and was sentenced to 120 days in the misdemeanor confinement program, which was suspended to 12 months of supervised probation, and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay court costs and fees of $858.50.
Source: https://herit.ag/3jYSbx7
Details
Caitlyn Croom, of Wake County, was changed by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking during the 2016 general election. Croom conspired with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County, to unlawfully collect ballots from voters, falsely claim to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mail the ballots in a manner intended to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Croom was charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, possession of absentee ballot, and conspiracy to possess absentee ballot. Croom pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to possess absentee ballot in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges. Croom was sentenced to 45 days in the misdemeanor confinement program, which was suspended for 12 months of supervised probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
Source: https://herit.ag/3GpwtKm
Details
Ginger S. Eason, of Wake County, was charged by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2016 general and 2018 primary elections. Eason and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Eason and others would unlawfully collect ballots from voters, falsely claim to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mail the ballots in a manner to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Eason pleaded guilty to three felony charges: conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, possession of absentee ballot, and conspiracy to commit possession of absentee ballot. Eason was sentenced to 45 days in a misdemeanor confinement program which was suspended to a sentence of 12 months of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, and assessed fees and costs of $696.
Source: https://herit.ag/3guUl6q
Details
Tonia M. Gordon, of Wake County, was changed by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2016 general and 2018 primary elections. Gordon and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Eason and others would unlawfully collect ballots from voters, falsely claim to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mail the ballots in a manner to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Gordon pleaded guilty to three felony charges: conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, possession of absentee ballot, and conspiracy to commit possession of absentee ballot. Gordon was sentenced to 120 days in a misdemeanor confinement program which was suspended to a sentence of 12 months of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, and assessed fees and costs of $956.
Source: https://herit.ag/3ViDNgB
Details
Rebecca D. Thompson, of Wake County, was charged by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2016 general and 2018 primary elections. Gordon and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Thompson and others would unlawfully collect ballots from voters, falsely claim to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mail the ballots in a manner to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Gordon pleaded guilty to three felony charges: conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, possession of absentee ballot, and conspiracy to commit possession of absentee ballot. Thompson was sentenced to 45 days in a misdemeanor confinement program which was suspended to a sentence of 12 months of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, and assessed fees and costs of $643.50.
Source: https://herit.ag/3TYJwHs
Details
Kelly Hendrix, of Wake County, was charged by the state for her role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2016 general and 2018 primary elections. Hendrix and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Hendrix and others would unlawfully collect ballots from voters, falsely claim to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and then mail the ballots in a manner to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Hendrix pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of absentee ballot. Hendrix was sentenced to 45 days in a misdemeanor confinement program which was suspended to a sentence of 12 months of probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, and assessed fees and costs of $793.50.
Source: https://herit.ag/3TZLIhX, https://herit.ag/3VnCsW1
Details
James Singletary, of Wake County, was charged by the state for his role in connection with an absentee ballot trafficking scheme to benefit Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris during the 2018 general election. Singletary was charged with conspiracy to commit felonious obstruction of justice, possession of absentee ballot, and conspiracy to commit possession of absentee ballot. Singletary and others were affiliated with Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County and a consultant for Harris. Singletary and others unlawfully collected ballots from voters, falsely claimed to have witnessed the voter casting his or her vote, and mailed the ballots in a manner intended to conceal that the voter had not mailed the ballot. Singletary pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to possess an absentee ballot and was sentenced to 120 days in the misdemeanor confinement program, which was suspended to 12 months of supervised probation, and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay $393.50 in court costs.
Source: https://herit.ag/3iu2mta
Details
Steve Curtis Thompson II was charged by the state in Moore County with one felony count of voter registration fraud after voting twice in the 2012 General Election. He voted in person in North Carolina and again by absentee ballot in Florida. He pleaded guilty pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, a 1970 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows a defendant to plead guilty while still asserting his innocence, and was ordered to pay $225 in court costs.
Source: herit.ag/3IhsiSZ , herit.ag/3IlcwXh
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| A general election for the seat in the Ninth Congressional district was decertified by North Carolina State Board of Elections after credible allegations of absentee ballot abuse arose. Officials became suspicious when 61% of the vote-by-mail ballots were cast for the Republican candidate, despite the fact that only 16% of the mail-by-ballot were registered Republicans. Multiple people, including the Republican candidate's son, expressed their suspicions that a political contractor illegally organized the collection of absentee ballots and completed empty mail-in ballots. The Board of Elections ordered a new election to fill the seat and the contractor was subsequently indicted. |
Source: https://herit.ag/3f1kupv
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Denslo Allen Paige, of Wake County was found guilty of aiding and abetting voting by an alien. Paige, a volunteer and former election official, was found to have assisted her boyfriend, Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, a non-citizen, to register and vote in the 2016 general election. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two months in prison, one year of probation, and $275 in fines.
Source: https://herit.ag/3rCK35b
Details
Hyo Suk George, of Korea, pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal voting by an alien. George was one of nineteen non-citizens prosecuted in the Eastern District of North Carolina for illegally voting in the 2016 election. He was ordered to pay a $100 fine and a $25 special assessment.
Source: Case No. 7:18-cr-00138-BO, https://herit.ag/3i71SGB, https://herit.ag/3iTTDwH
Details
Alessandro Cannizzaro, of Italy, pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal voting by an alien. Cannizzaro was one of nineteen non-citizens prosecuted in the Eastern District of North Carolina for illegally voting in the 2016 election. Cannizzaro was ordered to pay a $200 fine and a $10 special assessment.
Source: Case No. 5:18-cr-00328-BO, https://herit.ag/3iQEfBf, https://herit.ag/3BPBPeH
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Merious Jean, of Haiti, pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal voting by an alien. Jean was one of nineteen non-citizens prosecuted in the Eastern District of North Carolina for illegally voting in the 2016 election. He was ordered to pay a $100 fine and a $25 special assessment.
Source: Case No. 5:18-cr-00327-BO, https://herit.ag/2TCcHa3, https://herit.ag/3rCeSac
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Roberto Hernandez-Cuarenta voted in both the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections despite not being a citizen. Hernandez-Cuarenta, a Mexican citizen, was granted a Special Agricultural Worker application in 1992 and had since acquired permanent resident status. He was convicted on two charges of voting by an alien, and was sentenced to time served, which amounted to four months of incarceration.
Source: https://herit.ag/3x7xVdL, https://herit.ag/3l3BY8j
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Daniel Tadeusz Romanowski, of Poland, pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal voting by an alien. Romanowski was one of nineteen non-citizens prosecuted in the Eastern District of North Carolina for illegally voting in the 2016 election. He is awaiting sentencing.
Source: Case No. 5:18-cr-00326-D, https://herit.ag/3rKEmCw, https://herit.ag/3y83Coz
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.”
