After a dog votes in 2 California elections, owner is charged with 5 felonies

A Costa Mesa woman accused of registering her dog to vote and casting two ballots in the dog s name has been charged with five felonies government mentioned Friday Sept Laura Lee Yourex allegedly registered her dog Maya Jean Yourex to vote and cast two mail-in ballots in the California gubernatorial recall voting process of California Governor Gavin Newsom and the primary ballot Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Kimberly Edds declared Related Articles They stated it Who s in control of me Bay Area auto body shop owner gets jail time for fraudulent business dealings California residents plead guilty in million Apple warranty fraud scheme million suit against crypto godfather reads like a movie plot featuring corrupt California cops Consumer tip Don t fall for romance scams The first ballot was counted the second was rejected she noted The DA s office began analyzing in late October after the Orange County Registrar of Voters office informed them of a resident who self-reported that she had registered her dog to vote and had cast mail-in ballots addressed to her dog according to Edds The DA s office learned that Yourex had posted photos to social media one in January of her dog wearing an I voted sticker and one in October of Maya s dog tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption Maya is still getting her ballot even after the dog had passed away Edds announced Yourex is scheduled to appear in Westminster Superior Court on Tuesday where she may enter a plea to two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote and one count each of perjury procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed and registering a non-existent person to vote Yourex could face a six-year sentence if convicted of all counts She declined to comment Proof of residence or identification is not required for citizens to register to vote in state elections or cast ballots in state elections which was how Maya s vote counted in the recall referendum of Newsom which was voted down by nearly of voters It was not without delay known on Friday how Maya voted in that electoral process However proof of residence and registration is required of first-time voters in federal elections and the ballot in Maya s name for the primary was challenged and rejected Edds stated According to the California Elections Code a person must be registered as a voter by filling out and submitting an Affidavit of Registration in order to vote Edds commented That paperwork includes filling out the voter s name residence mailing address date of birth party preference and a certification that the voter is a citizen It must be signed under penalty of perjury