DNA Used to Catch Man Voting Over and Over

Robert Monroe cast 5 ballots in Wisconsin recall vote: police
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2014 9:42 AM CDT
DNA Used to Catch Man Voting Over and Over
A Wisconsin man allegedly committed voter fraud.   (Shutterstock)

How convinced may Robert Monroe have been that his vote in the 2012 presidential election mattered? So much so that the Wisconsin man allegedly cast an in-person absentee ballot in Shorewood on Nov. 1 then rented a car and drove some 250 miles to Lebanon, Ind., five days later, using his driver's license from that state (he owns a home there) to do so. And that's not all: When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faced a recall vote, Monroe voted five times, per a criminal complaint filed Friday. The 50-year-old has been charged with voter fraud after allegedly voting multiple times in a series of elections, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

He also allegedly voted multiple times in contests in April and August 2011 and illegally voted in a 2012 primary. In order to reach their conclusions, investigators tested DNA on absentee ballot envelopes, finding Monroe's DNA on envelopes that appeared to be from others; the complaint says he cast votes under his son's name and that of his girlfriend's son. Each of his 13 felony charges carries up to 18 months in prison. Monroe has claimed that he has no memory of the elections, and that his Attention Deficit and Obsessive Compulsive medications weaken his mental sharpness, WISN reports. No word on who he voted for, though he donated to a Republican state senator ... and allegedly voted twice in her recall election. (More DNA evidence stories.)

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