Two Republicans in separate states were taken into police custody during the past week for allegedly attempting to test how easy it would be to commit voter fraud.
In Nevada, 56-year-old Roxanne Rubin, a Republican, was arrested on Nov. 2 for allegedly trying to vote twice, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The newspaper quoted a report by an investigator with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office that said Rubin “was unhappy with the process; specifically in that her identification was not checked.”
Rubin allegedly voted at one polling location in Henderson, Nev. on Oct. 29 and then went to another voting location in Las Vegas to try to vote again. Poll workers told her records indicated she had already voted, but Rubin allegedly told them she hadn’t. A poll worker reportedly overheard Rubin tell another man that she had “signed my name differently, and they did not ask for ID.” She was arrested at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and charged with a category “D” felony.
On Tuesday in New Mexico, a Republican poll watcher was taken into police custody after also apparently trying to test the system. According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the man voted, then obtained a second provisional ballot and announced he was simply “testing the system to see if people could get away with voting twice.”
Santa Clara, N.M. Police Chief Lonnie Sandoval told TPM the suspect’s name would not be released because the investigation was ongoing. He expected to complete the investigation by today and send the report to the district attorney, who would ultimately decide whether to bring charges.
“From what we understand, he was trained by the Republican Party,” Sandoval told TPM. The Grant County Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment.
County Clerk Robert Zamarripa told TPM he and his employees had never seen such an incident before but said it wouldn’t sour his office’s relationship with poll watchers.
“The Republican Party chairwoman from this county handled it accordingly,” Zamarripa said. “We’ve always worked well together, so I don’t think it would cause any problems whatsoever.” Zamarripa said he was told the individual only recently began attending the Republican Party’s meetings and wasn’t well known by the organization’s leaders.
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