Federal prosecutors charged a man with voting twice in the 2024 presidential election, casting ballots in Pennsylvania and Alaska through the mail.
Jeffrey Pope, 65, had been registered to vote in Pennsylvania since 1999. He also registered to vote in Alaska in 2024 after buying property there a year earlier.
He specifically requested a ballot from Alaska be mailed to his home in Pennsylvania, according to the indictment.
Both the Alaska and Pennsylvania mail ballots arrived in early October.
Authorities say he mailed Alaska’s ballot back on Oct. 18, 2024, then four days later mailed the second ballot to Pennsylvania.
On the Keystone State ballot, he certified that he had not already voted.
The case comes as President Trump decries mail ballots.
He issued an executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to collate state lists of eligible voters and refuse to deliver ballots to people who aren’t on those lists.
It’s not clear whether that would have spotted cases similar to the one charged against Mr. Pope.
Voting rights groups generally defend mail ballots, saying it makes it easier for people with busy schedules or disabilities to vote.
But a federal appeals court this week said mail ballots are also “prone to fraud.”
“That is why voting by mail jeopardizes election integrity and democracy itself,” wrote Judge Andrew Oldham, who sits on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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