A Costa Mesa woman who illegally registered her dog to vote and twice cast ballots in the pup’s name is footing the bill for anti-voter fraud billboards emblazoned with the pooch’s image in order to resolve her criminal case.
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A photo Laura Lee Yourex once posted on social media of her dog, Maya, wearing an “I voted” sticker while posing next to a ballot will feature prominently in the electronic billboards, along with the admonishment “Don’t be a dog,” a reminder that “Voter fraud is a crime. If you can’t legally vote don’t vote” and a warning that “the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute.”
Yourex, as part of a plea agreement, agreed to pay $1,500 to fund four of the anti-voter fraud billboards along the 55 and 22 freeways in Orange County through Election Day on Nov. 3, according to an OC District Attorney’s Office statement.
Lourex admitted to registering Maya to vote and cast mail-in ballots for the 2021 gubernatorial recall election of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the 2022 primary election.
The first ballot was counted; the second was rejected.
The criminal investigation began after prosecutors learned from the Orange County Registrar of Voters office that a resident had self-reported having registered her dog to vote and cast mail-in ballots addressed to the pup.
Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page previously indicated his office was alerted to the fraud by former Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates, who at one time worked for the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department.
During their investigation, the District Attorney’s Office found the social media photos of the dog with the “I voted” sticker, including one instance in which Yourex wrote in a caption that Maya had continued to receive a ballot even after the dog passed away.
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Yourex initially faced five felony counts. Had she been convicted of those charges, she would have faced up to six years behind bars.
She ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of knowing registration of a nonexistent person to vote. Her attorney, in a previous statement, indicated that Yourex “sincerely regrets her unwise attempt to expose flaws in our state voting system intending to improve it by demonstrating that even a dog can be registered to vote.”
Once Yourex completed the terms of her plea agreement, including footing the bill for the billboards, her case was dismissed this week, prosecutors said.
She could not be reached for comment.
Experts say voter fraud is rare, and that the fact that Yourex was investigated and charged proves that checks and balances in the system work.
Federal law requires new voters to prove identification and residency, while state law requires new voters to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury. So if a voter is able to get around state law with a false claim in an affidavit — which appears to have happened when the vote was cast by “Maya” in the state recall election — it would be flagged in a federal election — which appeared to happen when the vote by “Maya” in the 2022 primary election was rejected.
After the charges against Yourex came to light, two members of the OC Board of Supervisors — Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen — unsuccessfully urged that county officials immediately investigate and remove any non-humans from the county voter rolls.
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