Well, if you try to register voters who aren’t actually living, you’re probably going to jail. That’s the fate for one James Madison University student who tried to register dead people. Andrew J. Spieles, who worried for an organization with ties to the Democratic Party, will be spending 100 days in jail for this attempted fraud. Spieles entered the names into the system used by the Virginia Democratic Party, from which hard copies were given to the registrar’s office in Harrisonburg. A familiar name tuned up during one of the transfers, which nailed him (via Fox News):
After filling out a registration form, Spieles entered the voter information into a computer system used by the Virginia Democratic Party. Each week, someone would hand-deliver paper copies to the Registrar’s Office in Harrisonburg.
Last August, however, an employee from the Registrar’s Office contacted law enforcement after another worker recognized a registration form submitted in the name of the late father of a Virginia judge. The office then discovered multiple instances of falsified forms. Some were in the names of deceased individuals, and others had incorrect middle names, birth dates and Social Security numbers, according to the Justice Department.
Spieles admitted he prepared all 18 of the false voter registration forms by obtaining information from “walk sheets” given to him by the Virginia Democratic Party. Spieles said no one else participated in the crime.
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Fox News added that Spieles could have faced up to a year in jail, with a $100,000 fine. He was able to reach a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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