A California woman was charged earlier this month with allegedly registering her dog to vote and successfully casting a ballot in the state’s 2021 gubernatorial recall election.
Laura Lee Yourex faces two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, one count of perjury, one count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, and one count of registering a non-existent person to vote.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Yourex self-reported registering her dog to vote to the county’s registrar of voters.
Authorities said she was able to cast a ballot in the 2021 election using her dog’s identity, as the state does not require proof of residence or identification for state elections. Her attempt to use her dog’s identity to vote in the 2022 midterm primary was rejected because proof of residence and registration is required for first-time voters in federal elections, authorities said.
If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison.
"Following an investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, sufficient evidence was discovered to file criminal charges against Yourex for illegally registering her dog to vote and then casting mail-in ballots issued to her dog based on the fraudulent voter registration," the prosecutor's office said in a press release. "On her social media, Yourex posted in January 2022 a picture of her dog wearing an 'I voted' sticker and posing with her ballot. Another post from October 2024, showed a photograph of Maya’s dog tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption, 'Maya is still getting her ballot,' even though the dog had previously passed away."
According to the Heritage Foundation, there have been 69 known cases of election fraud in California dating back to 1982.
