FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WAOW) – Election fraud charges have been filed in Fond du Lac County, over registration and voting in the 2020 presidential election.
The county’s district attorney, Eric Toney, said during a news conference Thursday a citizen’s tip lead to the investigation, and they found five cases of illegal voter registration and three cases where people voted illegally.
The charges are Class I felonies, which carry up to three-and-a-half years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, upon conviction.
These aren’t the first cases of voter fraud brought by Toney. He also charged two others with voting illegally; in both cases, they were convicted felons.
As of Dec. 14, the Associated Press reports that 31 cases of potential voter fraud have been referred for prosecution in Wisconsin. After review, prosecutors declined to bring charges in 26 of those cases.
In the most recent Fond du Lac County cases, Toney said Fond du Lac police investigating the citizen’s tip found five instances of people using a PO Box address at the UPS store in Fond du Lac.
Toney said of those five people, three did vote in the presidential election. He also stressed the cases had no impact on the election result, and that at least one of the people did vote for former President Donald Trump. It’s unknown how the other two voted.
It is legal for people without a permanent address to vote; to do so, the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s website said, when registering to vote, they can use a letter from a shelter or organization that offers services as proof of residence.
“We want to make sure people have the ability to exercise their right to vote, and that they do so legally,” Toney said. “One of the issues we see at times, if somebody doesn’t have a stable address, they assume that they just list a PO Box or something else that the law doesn’t allow for.”
It can often be unclear if an address on the voter registration form is for a PO Box, or is an apartment, Toney said. That can make it difficult for workers to determine if an address on a form is legitimate.
“One of the things we know, when people are held accountable, they’re more apt to follow the law,” Toney said.
