CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man can pay $1,000 and serve a 12 months on probation for unlawful voting throughout the 2020 election, Secretary of State Mac Warner introduced Thursday.
Richard Fox was sentenced final week in Fayette County Circuit Court for casting two mail-in ballots – one in West Virginia and one in Florida – throughout Nov. 3, 2020, election, in keeping with a information launch from Warner’s workplace. The launch didn’t embrace any details about who Fox voted for.
In a press release, Warner stated Fox’s actions not solely violated the legislation, however “broke the trust of our citizens, and directly harmed the integrity of every race on his ballot.”
“With this guilty plea, others who may be tempted to repeat this criminal act are on notice that my office will aggressively and effectively pursue a criminal conviction,” he stated.
Warner, a Republican who’s working for governor in West Virginia, additionally praised his workplace for being “tough on voter fraud.”
Since 2017, his workplace has recognized at the least 300,000 folks, in a state of 1.8 million, not in a position to vote as a result of they moved, died or have been convicted of a felony. During Warner’s tenure, 260,000 new voters have registered. In Thursday’s launch, he stated his workplace has developed a “See Something, Text Something” reporting instrument permitting residents to submit recommendations on suspected unlawful voting utilizing their cellphones.
After West Virginia was the final within the nation to certify Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden because the winner of the presidential race in 2020, Warner stated he supported the state’s involvement within the authorized effort to problem the outcomes. Warner additionally made an look at a “March for Trump” rally in Charleston after the election, the place he gave the impression to be holding up a “Stop the Steal” signal.
Warner was additionally one of many first GOP election officers to decide to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonpartisan group with a file of combating voter fraud. Warner stated he has had higher success working along with his personal staff to confirm and examine the rolls, in addition to collaborating with different states.
Warner toed the road for greater than two years talking publicly concerning the 2020 election outcomes, earlier than occurring a chat present simply weeks in the past to say he can “now firmly say” he believes the election was stolen and “we should not rest easy.”
Repeated investigations, audits and court docket instances have concluded there was no proof of widespread voter fraud or improper counting that might have modified the ends in former U.S. President Donald Trump’s favor.
Warner has contended that his main issues draw from claims that tech firms, the media and federal intelligence officers colluded to cowl up incriminating info discovered on the laptop computer of Biden’s son Hunter. He has pushed again in opposition to denials by social media executives and federal legislation enforcement that they have been pressured by Democrats to suppress the story, calling their actions “treasonous” in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month.
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