Minnesota woman forged her dead mom's signature on absentee ballots, charges say
ITASCA COUNTY, Minn. — A 50-year-old Minnesota woman is facing voter fraud charges after signing her dead mom's signature on two absentee ballots.
On Oct. 9, the Itasca County Auditor contacted the Itasca County Sheriff's Office about possible voter fraud involving two absentee ballots, charges say. The ballot envelopes weren't opened, but flagged for fraud based on the signature envelopes.
The ballots, which were received Oct. 7 by the auditor's office, were for the woman and her mother. The criminal complaint, citing the Minnesota Vital Statistics Death Report of Itasca County, said the mother died on Aug. 31.
Each signature envelope includes two sections. One needs to be filled out by the voter and the other by the witness.
The sheriff's office compared the signature envelopes and noticed they were filled out similarly. Authorities then compared the signatures to the signature on the woman's driver's license and, according to the complaint, they appeared to match each other.
On Oct. 11, the sheriff's office spoke to the woman, who said she filled out her mother's absentee ballot and signed her mom's name on the signature envelope, the complaint says. The woman said her mom was an avid Donald Trump supporter and had wanted to vote for him, but had passed away before the absentee ballots were received.
The woman, according to the complaint, also said she filled out her own absentee ballot and signed her mother's signature as the witness.
She faces two counts of intentionally signing false certificates and one count of casting an illegal vote or adding another.