Iowa candidate’s wife convicted of 52 counts in voter fraud scheme involving Vietnamese immigrants

The wife of a candidate for office in Iowa was convicted of 52 federal counts of voter fraud after she enlisted Vietnamese immigrants to fraudulently fill out absentee ballots, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

Kim Phuong Taylor is the wife of Jeremy Taylor, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives and a candidate for the Republican nomination for Iowa’s 4th congressional district in 2020. While her husband was campaigning, Kim Taylor, who immigrated to the US from Vietnam. , approached several Vietnamese voters who spoke little English to fill out absentee ballots for themselves and their children in favor of her husband, according to the Press release.

“The right to vote is one of our most important constitutional rights. Mrs. Taylor deprived citizens of their right to vote to benefit her husband’s campaign.” said Tim Duax, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, whose office prosecuted the case, to SiouxlandProud.com, a local news organization. “The guilty verdict is an example of how the justice system works to protect citizens’ voting rights and ensure fair and honest elections.”

Kim Taylor’s fraudulent scheme was discovered in September 2020 after two Iowa State University students, who were the children of voters she registered with, tried to vote but were told they had already voted . seconds in The Associated Press. Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill then examined the fraudulent absentee ballots that had been issued, noting that the handwriting on each was similar, the AP reported.

Kim Taylor had allegedly been present at each of the fraudulent voters’ homes to supervise them filling out the ballots, although she was not witnessed signing any. He was charged with 23 counts of fraudulent voting, three counts of fraudulent registration and 26 counts of providing false information while registering and voting, according to the AP.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges after six hours of deliberation, AP reported. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, seconds on the Hill

“Despite what’s in the media, voter fraud is extremely rare,” Assistant US Attorney Richard Evans, one of the prosecutors assigned to the case, told the AP. “For someone to vote dozens of times for multiple people, that’s rare.”

Jeremy Taylor was not charged in the case, although he was named an “unindicted co-conspirator.” he Lost the congressional primaries to Randy Feenstra, who was later elected to office and was also Removed stepped down as a member of the Woodland County Board of Supervisors in January 2020, after moving to another jurisdiction, in accordance with state law.

Under federal law, naturalized U.S. citizens do not lose their citizenship, even if convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. The only reasons for revocation of naturalization are fraud during the immigration process, membership in the Communist Party or a terrorist organization within five years of naturalization, or negative to testify before a congressional committee on subversive activities.

Duax’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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