County Candidate Quits Race After Dead Friend Votes

Absentee ballots came in for years after Sheila Nassar's death
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 26, 2012 6:51 PM CDT
County Candidate Quits Race After Dead Friend Votes
John Enright's friend was voting for years after she died.   (Shutterstock)

With a politician for a close friend, it's no surprise Sheila Nassar was a regular voter; trouble is, she kept exercising her civic duty even after she died. The revelation prompted Republican John Enright, who calls himself Nassar's "lifelong companion," to drop out of a race for county supervisor in Arizona. Nassar was living with Enright when she died five years ago. In a statement announcing his exit, Enright didn't mention the claims, which emerged in an anonymous letter and were corroborated by voting records, the Arizona Republic reports.

He did, however, discuss the issue in a YouTube video. "I do not know who is responsible for this," he said. "It is difficult to respond to what are now assumptions, assertions and innuendos." He said that if faced with formal accusations he would "very much look forward to clearing my name." The Republic notes, however, that he stopped short of denying the claims. The Pinal County recorder called the situation "an absolute act of fraudulent voting." (More John Enright stories.)

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