DES MOINES – Charges have been recently filed in nine potential cases of voter fraud. Eight of the cases were recently filed by Black Hawk County Attorney Tom Ferguson and one case was recently filed by Lee County Attorney Michael Short.
“I want to thank County Attorney Ferguson and County Attorney Short for taking election integrity seriously,” Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz said. “Every vote can make a big difference and Iowans expect nothing less than fair and honest elections.”
Charges of election misconduct in the 1st degree, a Class D felony, were filed against the following:
– Robert Anthony, age 56, from Waterloo
– Michelle Bruno, age 39, from Waterloo
– Ricco Cooper, age 39, from Waterloo
– Anthony Greer, age 25, from Waterloo
– Harold Redd Jr., age 48, from Waterloo
– Glen Tank, age 42, from Waterloo
– Philip Thomas, age 29, from Waterloo
– Rosa Wilder, age 49, from Waterloo
A charge of perjury, a Class D felony, was filed against the following:
Kelli Jo Griffin, age 40, from Montrose
Anthony, Bruno, Cooper, Greer, Redd Jr., Tank, Thomas and Wilder are accused of registering to vote and voting in the 2012 general election while being felons that have not had their voting rights restored. Griffin is accused of registering to vote and voting in the 2013 city election while being a felon that has not had her voting rights restored.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s office refers potential voter fraud cases to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to investigate. After the investigation, DCI then refers the potential voter fraud cases to the county attorneys for prosecution. In the case of Griffin, the Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise also referred the case to the Lee County Sheriff’s office. DCI then provided information to the Lee County Sheriff’s office which then filed the charge against Griffin.
