A woman who cast her ballot for her deceased mother must write an essay

A Minnesota woman was convicted of filling out and submitting a mail-in ballot for Her deceased mother To support Republican Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election, the judge ordered that he write an article and read a book about the importance of voting for democracy.

Trump who He won a second term Last year, it was He objected to voting by mail As fraudulent and Falsely claimed This is one of his reasons He lost the 2020 election For Democrat Joe Biden. Itasca County District Attorney Jake Fauchald said the Minnesota case shows how well the electoral system works and detects attempts at voter fraud.

Danielle Christine Miller, 51, of Nashwauk, in a rural area about three hours north of Minneapolis, was charged last fall with three felonies after local election officials notified authorities in October about two absentee ballots that had been flagged for fraud. One was from a registered voter, Miller’s mother, Matt.

According to court papers, Miller told an investigator that she filled out her mother’s absentee ballot and signed her mother’s name on the signature envelope. She said her mother was a staunch supporter of Trump and wanted to vote for him, but she died in August 2024 before she could get an absentee ballot, according to the complaint. Miller also said she signed her mother’s signature as a witness to her ballot, the document said.

Miller pleaded guilty last week to knowingly preparing or signing a false certificate. As part of her confession, she claimed she was drunk when submitting the mail-in ballots and was unable to accurately remember what she did, but agreed that the evidence could prove her guilt, Vosshald said. A message left for Miller’s attorney was not immediately responded to.

Minnesota 9th Judicial Circuit Judge Heidi Chandler on Wednesday dismissed the other two charges. Miller’s punishment includes up to three years of probation and an $885 fine.

The judge also imposed some other unconventional conditions.

Miller’s must-read book about the history of voting in America and related current issues is Thank You for Voting: The Crazy, Enlightening, and Inspiring Truth About Voting in America by Erin Geiger-Smith; She ordered the writing of a 10-page research paper “relating to the importance of voting in a democratic country and how election fraud can undermine the voting process.”

Fauchald said the ruling was a fair result. He described the paper as a unique aspect of governance, but a fair expectation.

“I think the sentence that was imposed here is largely designed to help her better understand the importance of these things and make sure that she — and frankly others don’t — take the same type of actions in the future,” the prosecutor said.