Florida man who tried to get ballot for dead wife charged

[progree]

Source: AP

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Florida authorities say they've filed a voter fraud charge against a man who said he said he "wanted to test the system" when he tried to obtain a mail-in ballot for his deceased wife.

Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett said he contacted the sheriff's office after a review of voter rolls showed that Larry Wiggins' wife had been dead for two years. Staffers determined that Wiggins forged his late wife's name on the ballot request, according to the Bradenton Herald.

Wiggins, who was arrested last Thursday on a voter fraud charge, told deputies that he was "testing the system to see if worked."

Bennett said such attempts are unusual in Manatee County. Researchers say that voter fraud in general is rare in the U.S.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/florida-man-tried-ballot-dead-143948761.html

---

Emphasis added by Progree. Bennett made clear that any attempt at voter fraud will be prosecuted.

The back story, where he appears to be encouraging people in North Carolina to vote twice -- once by mail and once in person --

Trump appears to encourage North Carolinians to vote twice to test the system, CNN 9/3/20

When Trump was asked by local news station WECT in Wilmington, North Carolina, whether he was confident in the state's absentee voting system, the President launched into a somewhat rambling answer.

"Well, they'll go out and they'll go vote, and they're going to have to go and check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way, because if it tabulates, then they won't be able to do that," Trump said on the tarmac in front of Air Force One. "So, let them send it in, and let them go vote, and if the system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't tabulated, they won't be able to vote. So that's the way it is. And that's what they should do."

The President later told people to send in their ballots, saying, "Send them in strong, whether it's solicited or unsolicited. The absentees are fine. You have to work to get them, you know."

"And you send them in, but you go to vote. And if they haven't counted it, you can vote. So that's the way I feel," he said.

More: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/politics/donald-trump-north-carolina-voter-fraud/index.html

So the fuckwad-in-chief is not only infecting people, he's getting them in trouble.

According to North Carolina law, it's a felony "for any person with intent to commit a fraud to register or vote at more than one precinct or more than one time, or to induce another to do so, in the same primary or election, or to vote illegally at any primary or election."

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. tRump ordered his trumpanzees to vote twice (with a wink and a nod to pretend he wasn't)

It was said at a recent rally, I'm sure.

[stillcool]

4. he said it several times..

and dead serious...maybe wrong word choice.

[paleotn]

2. Trumpers, please do....

and end up in jail where you belong.

[catrose]

3. I've been thinking of Crystal Mason, serving 5 years

She wasn't sure if she could vote. The poll worker handed her a provisional ballot--I would have done the same, understanding that her vote would be counted if it was valid; if not, no harm, no foul. Instead she was convicted of voter fraud and sentenced to 5 years, which was upheld on appeal.

[progree]

7. Then there's Rosa Maria Ortega, also in Texas, who got 8 years

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/texas-mother-four-gets-eight-years-jail-voter-fraud-n941261

Texas woman with four children gets eight years in jail for voter fraud, NBCNews, 11/28/18

A Texas appeals court upheld the conviction of green card holder Rosa Maria Ortega for voter fraud on Wednesday, cementing a sentence of eight years in jail and a likely deportation.

Ortega, a mother of four, reportedly thought she was able to vote because she was a permanent resident. She voted five times between 2004 and 2014 — once for the attorney general, Ken Paxton, who later prosecuted her, according to her attorney. She also reportedly served as a poll worker.

"She doesn't know. She's got this [green] card that says 'resident' on it, so she doesn’t mark that she's not a citizen,” her attorney told the Washington Post said. "She had no ulterior motive beyond what she thought, mistakenly, was her civic duty."

Prosecutors said that Ortega had correctly told authorities she was a resident alien on a driver's license form, while incorrectly checking the U.S. citizen box for the purpose of voting, undercutting her claims that it was an innocent mistake.

[catrose]

8. Her too! Now deported, I think. For a mistake, like Crystal.

[LogicFirst]

5. So . . . is he a republican hoping to fulfill Trump's claim?

[jb5150]

9. Regrettably, according to the articles I've read ...

.. he is a Democrat.

[progree]

10. Hmm. So that's why he's being prosecuted. And Black too

and unfortunately, more evidence of intent --

Staffers determined that Wiggins forged his late wife's name on the ballot request.
More: https://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-man-who-tried-to-get-ballot-for-dead-wife-arrested

Bennett said his staff discovered the fraud during a routine check of the voter roll that is done whenever someone requests a mail ballot. The voter database is constantly being updated, including with information from the state Department of Health on voters who die, Bennett said.

“As soon as they pulled up the file it showed that she is dead,” Bennett said.

The supervisor’s office then compared the handwriting on the absentee ballot request for Wiggins’s wife with her signature on file and discovered that they did not match.

More: https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/crime/2020/10/02/manatee-county-man-requests-mail-ballot-dead-wife-sheriff-says/5893307002/

[warmfeet]

6. It was an IQ test.

Larry did not fare very well.

[Xipe Totec]

11. Apparently, the system works. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

12. He should have said he was authorized by the highest law enforcement official in the land

but now he's on record testing the system. His lawyer might have had a case.

[flying_wahini]

13. As a Poll worker (Texas) this gives me a big headache.

I shudder to think that there will be people trying to do this.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. I'm going to test the alarm system at the Dollar General.

Always glad to be of public service.

[Aussie105]

15. Larry tested the system.

Trump told him it would be a good thing to do.

The system won.

Larry is in deep in hot doggy do do.

Thank you Larry, for your service. Such as it was.

[truthisfreedom]

16. Our president. What a fun guy.

Barrel of laughs, huh?

[progree]

17. My "shaking my head" muscles have long been worn out /nt