Iowa Public Radio reported Friday that a Des Moines woman was arrested for casting two early ballots for Donald Trump—a lil' crime that is also known as voter fraud—because she believes that the election is "rigged."
The woman, Terri Rote, was released on a $5,000 bond Friday for the Class D felony, and faces five years in prison if she's convicted. She said she was worried someone would change her first ballot to a vote for Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.
"I wasn't planning on doing it twice, it was spur of the moment," Rote told IPR. "The polls are rigged."
Polk County Attorney John Sarcone told IPR that voter fraud in the state is rare. So rare that he's only encountered voter misconduct about three times in 25 years.
"I think in the 25-plus years that I've been doing this job, this maybe the third [time] we've had some irregularity that's resulted in a criminal charge," Sarcone said. "People aren’t voting more than once. And if they do, or attempt to do it, they will get caught because there are safeguards in place....We want everybody to exercise their right to vote, but only once."
Donald Trump made headlines during the final presidential debate last week after announcing he would keep people "in suspense" about whether or not he will support the outcome of the election if he loses. His campaign has been pushing a narrative that the election has been rigged in favor of Clinton, prompting legislators to warn voters that Trump is threatening the core of American democracy by refusing to accept a peaceful transition of power.
