Guilty plea in voter registration fraud

Lorraine Lee Combs, age 57, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit voter registration fraud at the Federal Courthouse in downtown St. Paul this morning.

Your correspondent was there. The conspiracy count was a felony charge.

The U.S. Attorney announced the charge in a press release earlier this month. It’s clear from the press release and the court session that Combs was just a worker bee in the scam, working on behalf of her romantic partner, Ronnie Williams.

The scam involved filling out hundreds of voter registration forms with fake information.

In court and in court filings, Williams is listed as “Individual 1.” He apparently worked directly with “Foundation 1” to deliver the fake voter registrations and receive payment. The voter forms involved the 2022 election.

Foundation 1 has not been named.

It was revealed in court today that fake voter registration forms were delivered to some 10 county elections offices across the state. The counties have not been publicly named, but the press release does thank the Carver County Sheriff’s Office for their help.

The charge Combs pled to carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. However, under the plea agreement, the suggested range goes from 0 to 6 months in prison and a fine ranging from $2,000 to $20,000.

Oddly enough, Combs told the court this morning that her college-level coursework was in the field of criminal justice.

Beyond the voter registration fraud, my public policy objection to this case involves the payment by nonprofits for gathering voter registrations. I’ve written in the past (here and here) of the efforts by taxpayer-funded nonprofits in the fields of voter outreach and civic engagement, efforts that seemingly favor but one political party.

Combs sentencing will be scheduled for later this year. Williams is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on July 8.