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Florida man who tried to get ballot for dead wife charged

Posted at 5:50 PM, Oct 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-03 17:50:33-04

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida authorities say they’ve filed a voter fraud charge against a man who said he said he “wanted to test the system” when he tried to obtain a mail-in ballot for his deceased wife.

According to the Bradenton Herald, Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett contacted the sheriff’s office after a review of voter rolls showed that Larry Wiggins’ wife had been dead for two years.

Staffers determined that Wiggins forged his late wife’s name on the ballot request. Wiggins was arrested Thursday. Bennett says such attempts are unusual in Manatee County. Researchers say that voter fraud in general is rare in the U.S.