Shaun Brown, a candidate for the Virginia 2nd Congressional District, was removed from the ballot in the lead-up to the 2018 election after a judge ruled that signatures on the petition to get her on the ballot had been forged. Brown, who ran and lost as a Democrat in 2016, was running as an Independent. […]
Russ Casey, a Texas Justice of the Peace, submitted false signatures in order to ensure his place on the Republican primary ballot during his 2018 reelection campaign. Casey withdrew and resigned following the revelation that he had falsified multiple petition signatures and falsely attested to having witnessed the signatures. Casey pleaded guilty to a charge […]
Chris Strough and her husband, Queensbury Supervisor John Strough, violated state election law while obtaining signatures on a petition to get John Strough on the Conservative Party primary ballot. John Strough, a Democrat, was required by law to have a notary present for each signature he obtained because he was targeting voters outside of his […]
Denise Zwit, assistant to the High School District 128 Superintendant, signed three nomination petitions for school board president Patrick Groody, falsely claiming she was present when voters signed them. Zwit initially faced felony perjury charges, but a plea deal saw those charges reduced to misdemeanor counts of disregard of the election code. Zwit pleaded guilty […]
During her 2017 campaign for the High School District 128 board, Ellen Mauer signed four nomination petitions to be placed on the ballot as a candidate, falsely claiming she was present when voters signed them. Mauer initially faced felony perjury charges, but a plea deal saw those charges reduced to misdemeanor counts of disregard of […]
Thomas Rudd, a former coroner in Lake County, Illinois, was charged with five felony counts of perjury for making false statements on nominating petitions for his 2016 re-election. Rudd signed the petitions, falsely indicating he had been personally present when voters signed them, and later made the same claim under oath. Prosecutors alleged that 15-20 […]
Richard Howard offered homeless people cash and cigarettes in exchange for forging signatures on official petitions using the names and addresses of actual registered voters, in order to qualify several ballot measures. Howard and several others were arrested during an undercover operation. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to 60 days […]
Simone Marie Thrasher, of Salem, made a series of false statements while acting as a petition circulator in the run-up to the 2016 election. Thrasher, who was gathering signatures on petitions for two proposed state laws, stole multiple peoples’ identities and committed other fraudulent acts. She was charged with 35 separate offenses: 14 counts of […]
Lauren C. Peabody, of Virginia Beach, worked as a campaign staffer for the GOP candidate in the 2nd Congressional District of VA. In that role, she signed off on petition signatures, that she did not witness, to get Shaun Brown, a Democrat, on the ballot as an Independent in order to take away votes from […]
Bradley Jasperson, of Pacifica, forged signatures for a referendum initiative and was paid a $5 fee per signature. He was reported to have forged over 100 signatures, most of which were actual country residents. Peterson was charged with 10 counts of perjury by declaration, 5 counts of identity theft, and 5 counts of signing of […]