PRESCOTT - Voters beware: Filling in a ballot or signing the voting affidavit for someone else could lead to criminal and/or financial consequences.
Donald Niedermeyer thought he was doing his wife and two friends a favor this past February when he signed their voting affidavits for them. His favor cost him a $910 fine and a misdemeanor conviction for "false swearing."
"It was an honest mistake," Niedermeyer, 73, of Prescott said. "This is the first time in my life I have ever been in trouble with the law."
During the presidential preference election this past February, Niedermeyer signed the ballot affidavits for his wife Patricia, mother-in-law Gladys Kiger, and longtime family friend and California resident Peter Hopkins. At the request of his wife and mother-in-law, he also filled in their voting ballots.
"They were both sick with something and asked me to fill in their votes for them," he said. "They told me who to mark on the ballot."
Hopkins divides his time between Prescott and California. He cast his own votes on the ballot but did not sign the affidavit before leaving for California, Niedermeyer said.
Instructions for persons signing a ballot affidavit are in the upper left corner of the affidavit envelope. Niedermeyer said he read and understood the instructions but assumed he was within the letter of the law since all three individuals had given him verbal permission to sign for them.
Not so, says County Recorder Ana Wayman-Trujillo.
"I know that in a lot of families a wife or husband signs their checks or something else for each other. But you cannot do that when it comes to voting," she said. "Usually someone makes an honest mistake and we understand that."
Elections staff personally check each signature against voting records. When they find a discrepancy, the elections office "makes a diligent effort to contact the voter," Wayman-Trujillo said. "We give the voter a chance to come in and sign a new affidavit."
She talked to the Niedermeyers and learned the circumstances of the signatures. She felt the violations were "too blatant" to ignore. She notified law enforcement officials who investigated the case and referred it to the county attorney's office.
The county attorney's office originally charged Niedermeyer with three counts of false swearing - a Class 6 felony - but re-designated the charges as Class 1 misdemeanors. The court dismissed two counts and Niedermeyer pleaded guilty to one count.
Niedermeyer said he appreciates other voters learning from his mistake, but he would rather that it never happened.
"I sure just want to put this thing behind me. I'm very ashamed of it," he said.
The kicker for Niedermeyer is that the candidates he and the others voted for did not get nominated.
"So it was all for naught," he said.
The public may learn more about the rules and laws governing the legal way to vote and sign the affidavit for another voter by calling the elections and voter registration office at 771-3250, or visit the county's website at www.co.yavapai.az.us.
Contact the reporter at bcolbert@prescottaz.com
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, August 16, 2008
Article comment by:
Anonymous
Sheila Polk's office procecutes easy targets in the name of justice, the old, very young or poor. Law enforcment officers that cannot keep track of their duty weapons are part of the "good ol' boy" network that are not ever going to be part of the criminal justice system of Yavapai County. Vote Sheila Polk out of office!
Posted: Saturday, August 16, 2008
Article comment by:
Strive for Perfekshun
It is painful to see words misused by people who earn their livings using words. Please advise your headline writer that there is no such thing as "unintentional fraud." Fraud, by definition, must be intentional (or it is NOT fraud). The reporter made no mention of "fraud" in the story. Can't someone at least check all of the headlines just before the paper goes to press?
Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Jodi
Wow. So sad and pathetic! they can leave guns in the fry's restroom, let kids shoot guns on the taylor hicks school field. Oh and how about a raging cocaine addiction? Deputy Dwyer isn't even in prison for any of that crap and he rightfully should be. The law enforcement in this town is a major joke, i feel nauseous at times due to how much they get away with without any repercussions.
Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Colleen
Its weird how the Attorneys office will go after an elderly man, who signed his sick wife’s signature with her permission. Victor Hambrick and Elise Townsend did things that should of at least warranted an investigation. But that never happened. And now the paper reports from the elections office that there are problems with the early ballots, That are not even to be opened until September,2. Bet that will be over looked? How many people voiced their opinion with the early vote that was illegally opened and possibly destroyed? And admitted by the elections office via the daily courier? Questionable behavior all around! Some thing is wrong with Yavapai County all around. Clean House this election!
Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Never sign for spouse again!
Wow, the county attorney's office will charge 73 year old man with a class 6 felony for voter fraud for signing his sick wife's signature but they won't charge one of their own deputy attorneys for shooting a fleeing burglar in the butt with a handgun or a jailer with endangement when her son discharges her duty weapon in her car. A felony for signing your spouse's signature with her permision? Do they have so much money they have a handwriting specialist on payroll? Remember, Sheila Polk's name is on the ballot this year.
Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Anonymous
Its also illegal to open the ballots prior to election day, But hey they can do anything!!!
