Authorities in New Mexico are investigating an Albuquerque father who allegedly showed up at a polling place to vote on behalf of his 18-year-old son, news station KOB reported on Tuesday night.
According to Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver, elections workers got suspicious when the silver-haired father showed up to vote and told them he was born in 1994. He was still allowed to cast a ballot, but the workers took down his license plate number when he left. Later, he showed up at a different location and voted under his own name, according to KOB.
When reporter Gadi Schwartz tracked Thomas Pino down at his home, the father denied voting twice. His son, however, happened to pull up in a car a short time later. Seeming to know nothing about the allegations against his father, the son told the station he hadn’t yet voted but still intended to.
The elder Pino later called Schwartz to tell him he had made a mistake by voting on behalf of his son, but said his son had given him permission. Both were registered as Republicans at the same Albuquerque address, according to KOB.
Liz Hamm of the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office confirmed to TPM that the case had been referred to the Bernalillo County Sheriff. The sheriff’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
New Mexico does not have a photo voter ID law, which may prevent cases of in-person voter fraud. An investigation earlier this year found that such fraud was very rare, with just ten known cases since 2000. Five of those cases involved suspects voting on behalf of a family member.
Watch KOB’s report:
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