Election Fraud Cases

Nancy Sullivan

Nancy Sullivan, a resident of Windham, admitted having committed voter fraud in the 2014 general election. Sullivan fraudulently obtained an absentee ballot in the name of her son, Avery Galloway, by forging his signature on an absentee ballot request form, as well as on the envelope containing the completed ballot. Sullivan avoided criminal prosecution and the permanent loss of her ability to vote by paying a fine as a civil penalty and signing a consent agreement with the Attorney General.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f2mzl1

Ana Cuevas

Ana Cuevas, a campaign aide for Hector Ramirez, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after she and other staff went door to door tricking potential voters into signing absentee ballot applications. They then took the applications to the Board of Elections, retrieved the absentee ballots, and voted for Ramirez without the voters' knowledge. Cuevas was sentenced to conditional discharge.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f1ksxT

Hector Ramirez

Hector Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument. Ramirez, a 2014 State Assembly Candidate for the 86th District Assemby District, deceived voters into giving their absentee ballots to his campaign on the false premise that the campaign would then submit the ballots. Instead, Ramirez's campaign inserted his name on at least thirty-five of the absentee ballots. Ramirez initially won the 2014 race, but a recount determined he had lost by two votes. In lieu of jail time, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett imposed a three-year ban on Ramirez running for office. Ramirez could face jail time if he runs for office in violation of his three-year ban. Prior to his guilty plea, Ramirez unsuccessfully ran for the same state assembly seat on numerous occasions, most recently in the 2016 election.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rDWtd7, https://herit.ag/2TCrzFs, https://herit.ag/3eYoWVW

Graciela Sanchez

Prosecutors charged Graciela Sanchez with four misdemeanor counts of violating election law in an effort to assist Guadalupe Rivera win re-election to the post of Weslaco city commissioner in 2013. Rivera and Sanchez were found to have illegally "assisted" absentee ballot voters. The results of the election were disputed, and a judge determined that 30 ballots had been illegally cast in an election decided by only 16 votes. Sanchez pleaded guilty and received two years' probation.

Source: bit.ly/2f8AtkT, bit.ly/2f8AtkT

Guadalupe Rivera

Guadalupe Rivera, a former Weslaco city commissioner, pleaded guilty to one count of providing illegal "assistance" to a voter by filling out an absentee ballot "in a way other than the way the voter directed or without direction from the voter." The fraud took place during Rivera's 2013 re-election bid, which he won by a scant 16 votes. His challenger sued alleging fraud, and a judge determined that 30 ballots had been illegally cast, enough to alter the outcome of the election. A new election was subsequently held, and Rivera lost. Rivera originally faced 16 election-related charges, 15 of which were dropped as part of his plea deal. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.

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

Janice Lee Hart

Janice Lee Hart pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanor counts of attempted absentee ballot fraud in connection with misconduct while working on the 2013 campaign for District 2 City Commissioner Amos Newsome. Prosecutors charged that Hart was not present when absentee ballots were signed even though she was listed as a witness on the ballots. In the election, Newsome defeated his challenger by only 14 votes and received 119 out of the 124 absentee ballots cast. A judge sentenced Hart to 12 months in the county jail for each count, which he suspended to two years of probation for each count.

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

Lesa Coleman

A Houston County jury found Lesa Coleman guilty of seven felony counts of absentee ballot fraud related to the 2013 election for a city commission seat. Coleman received a three year split sentence. She will serve 180 days in jail followed by three years of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/372sHFk, https://herit.ag/3rGpuVM

Olivia Lee Reynolds

Olivia Lee Reynolds was convicted of 24 counts of voter fraud. While working on the 2013 campaign for her boyfriend, Dothan City Commissioner Amos Newsome, Reynolds filled out voters' ballots for them and told others for whom to vote. Her fraud had definite consequences: Commissioner Newsome won reelection by a mere 14 votes, losing the in-person vote by a wide margin but winning an incredible 96 percent of the absentee vote. Newsome himself faced pressure to resign as a consequence. Reynolds was sentenced to serve six months in a community corrections facility. She is appealing the conviction.

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

Mark Evans

Mark Evans voted by absentee ballot in the November 2014 election. He then cast a second absentee ballot, this time in the name of his deceased father-in-law. Following an investigation by the District Attorney's office and the County Clerk and Recorder's Office, the 62-year-old Ventura County resident was charged with misdemeanor voter fraud. He pleaded no contest and received three years' probation and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rH61Eb

Brian McDouglar

Brian McDouglar was convicted of falsifying or tampering with an absentee ballot. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the Class C felony.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y83Goj, https://herit.ag/3rDnspg

Steven Gaedtke

In 2015, Steven Gaedtke was convicted of duplicate voting during the 2010 general election. Gaedtke submitted an absentee ballot in Kansas, and then voted in person in Arkansas where he had a second home. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, agreeing to pay a $500 fine and court expenses.

Source: https://herit.ag/3xcAP0K

Pasco Parker

Pasco Parker, a 63-year-old Tennessee resident, admitted to voting in three states during the 2012 federal election. He mailed an absentee ballot to both Florida and North Carolina, and he voted in person in Tennessee. Upon pleading guilty to felony voting fraud and felony voter registration, Parker was sentenced to between six and 17 months of jail time, and was ordered to complete 48 hours of community service. The sentence was later suspended in favor of 24 months of supervised probation, and $940 in fees, fines, and court costs. This case was brought to the attention of election officials by a North Carolina volunteer voting watchdog group, The Voting Integrity Project.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f22qeG, https://herit.ag/2WsDwyE, https://herit.ag/3EApsEQ

Perth Amboy City Council

Fernando Gonzalez won a seat on the Perth Amboy City Council by 10 votes in an election where at least 13 illegal absentee ballots were cast. A Superior Court judge subsequently overturned the election results and ordered a new election be held in May 2015 for the seat.

Source: https://herit.ag/3iVp35W, https://herit.ag/3BOrBeP

Eugene Gallagher

Eugene Gallagher pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges in connection with the November 2013 election, in which he was a candidate for councilman in the Taylor Borough. He unlawfully persuaded Taylor residents and non-residents to register for absentee ballots in the election using a Taylor address. Gallagher was the top vote-getter in the election and won his first term as councilman. With his guilty plea, Gallagher can no longer hold public office. A judge sentenced him to a maximum of 10 months in jail and two months of house arrest for both his election fraud conviction and a DUI conviction. He was also sentenced to more than five years of court supervision and 200 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l0pZbE

Rafael Angel Elizondo

Rafael Angel Elizondo, of Cameron County, along with Jose Garza, engaged in illegal vote harvesting during the 2012 Democratic Primary run-off. Elizondo improperly posessed between 10 and 20 ballots without the consent of the voters. Elizondo faced a third degree felony method of returning marked ballot charge. He pleaded no contest to the charge and was sentenced to serve three days in county jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/378DMVm, https://herit.ag/3f4FtYr