A Minnesota lady convicted of filling out and submitting a mail-in poll for her deceased mother in help of Republican Donald Trump throughout the 2024 presidential election was ordered by a decide to jot down an essay and browse a e book about voting’s significance to democracy.
Itasca County Legal professional Jake Fauchald mentioned the Minnesota case reveals how properly the election system works and catches tried voter fraud.
Danielle Christine Miller, 51, of Nashwauk, in a rural space about three hours north of Minneapolis, was charged final fall with three felonies after native election officers notified authorities in October about two absentee ballots that had been flagged for fraud.
A kind of was from a registered voter who had died, Miller’s mom.
SAUL LOEB by way of Getty Pictures
In line with courtroom papers, Miller instructed an investigator that she had stuffed out her mom’s absentee poll and signed her mom’s title on its signature envelope. She mentioned her mom was an avid Trump supporter and needed to vote for him, however she died in August 2024 earlier than receiving an absentee poll, in line with the criticism. Miller additionally mentioned she signed her mom’s signature as a witness on her personal poll, the doc mentioned.
Miller pleaded responsible final week to deliberately making or signing a false certificates. As a part of her plea, she claimed she was intoxicated when submitting the mail ballots and was unable to exactly bear in mind what she did, however agreed that the proof might discover her responsible, Fauchald mentioned.
A message left for Miller’s legal professional was not instantly returned.
Minnesota Ninth Judicial District Choose Heidi Chandler on Wednesday dismissed the opposite two fees. Miller’s sentence consists of as much as three years of supervised probation and an $885 advantageous.
The decide additionally imposed another unorthodox situations.
Miller should learn a e book in regards to the historical past of voting in America and present associated points, “Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Fact About Voting in America,” by Erin Geiger Smith; and she or he was ordered to jot down a 10-page paper “concerning the significance in voting in a democracy and the way election fraud can undermine the voting course of.”
Fauchald mentioned the sentence is a good end result. He known as the paper a singular facet of sentencing, however a good expectation.
“I believe the sentence that was imposed right here could be very a lot designed to assist her higher perceive the significance of these issues and be sure that she doesn’t — and fairly frankly different folks don’t — take the identical kind of actions sooner or later,” the prosecutor mentioned.
Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.
