Election Official Caught Rigging Election Results for Democrats
Former judge admits to taking bribes to stuff ballot boxes for Democratic candidates
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A Philadelphia election official has been caught, charged, and pleaded guilty to stuffing ballot boxes for Democratic candidates in primary elections in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced the bombshell case in a Thursday news release.
McSwain details how former Philadelphia Judge of Elections Domenick J. DeMuro, 73, took bribes to defraud the public for Democrats.
He was charged and pleaded guilty on the same day, according to McSwain.
The two counts were listed as follows:
(1) conspiracy to deprive Philadelphia voters of their civil rights by fraudulently stuffing the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections, and;
(2) a violation of the Travel Act, which forbids the use of any facility in interstate commerce (here, a cell phone) with the intent to promote certain illegal activity (here, bribery).
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During the plea hearing, DeMuro admitted that an unnamed political consultant, gave him money in return for him illegally adding votes to certain Democratic candidates.
The candidates had allegedly either hired the consultant or were the consultant's preferred candidates.
The bribery monies were disguised as "consulting fees" collected by the consultant and then paid to Election Board Officials, including DeMuro.
“During his guilty plea hearing, DeMuro admitted that an unnamed political consultant gave DeMuro directions and paid him money to illegally add votes for certain Democratic candidates,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
“These candidates were individuals running for judicial office whose campaigns had hired the consultant, as well as other candidates for various federal, state, and local elective offices who were preferred by this consultant for a variety of reasons.”
While announcing the charges, McSwain highlighted the responsibilities of DeMuro’s position as an election judge.
His role which primarily centered around “overseeing the entire election process and voter activities of his or her division” and ensuring that election results are accurate and untainted.
"Our election system relies on the honesty and the integrity of its election officials,” McSwain said.
"If they are corrupt, the system is corrupt, which creates opportunities for election fraud and unfortunately the counting of fake votes.
"Domenick DeMuro did not uphold his duties as an election official,” McSwain continued.
"After receiving payments ranging from between $300 and $5,000 per election from the consultant, DeMuro would add fraudulent votes on the voting machines, also known as ringing up votes, for the consultant’s clients and preferred candidates thereby diluting and distorting the ballots that were cast by actual voters.
"DeMuro would add these fraudulent votes to the totals during election day and then he would later falsely certify that the voting machine results were accurate.
"He would add the fraudulent votes by literally standing in the voting booth and voting over and over and over again as fast as he could when he thought that the coast was clear.”
"In May 2014, DeMuro stuffed the ballot box with 27 fraudulent ballots during the primary election,” McSwain revealed.
"In May 2015, he padded the ballot box with 40 fraudulent votes.
"In 2016, it was 46 fraudulent votes.
“Now these numbers may sound relatively small, but they made up a significant percentage of the total votes that were cast at the polling place.
"In 2014, 118 total ballots were reported in the 36th Division of the 39th Ward.
"That means that DeMuro’s fraudulent votes accounted for over 22% of the total voting in that division in 2014.
"In 2015, his fraud accounted for over 15% of the total votes in the division.
"In 2016, his fraud accounted for over 17% of the votes.”
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The disturbing news comes as Democrats across the country are pushing for mass-scale vote-by-mail voting for the upcoming elections.
Serious concerns have been raised by many top officials regarding mail-in voting due to the opportunity that it allegedly creates for fraud.
RealClearPolitics reported:
Between 2012 and 2018, 28.3 million mail-in ballots remain unaccounted for, according to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission.
The missing ballots amount to nearly one in five of all absentee ballots and ballots mailed to voters residing in states that do elections exclusively by mail.
States and local authorities simply have no idea what happened to these ballots since they were mailed – and the figure of 28 million missing ballots is likely even higher because some areas in the country, notably Chicago, did not respond to the federal agency’s survey questions.
Watchdog groups say that the sheer volume of unaccounted-for mail-in ballots creates major concerns about election security and being able to guarantee that elections are conducted with integrity.
In 2018, Texas law enforcement officials arrested several women for allegedly targeting elderly voters in 2016 in a “voter fraud ring” that was funded by a Democratic Party leader.
