A former United States Postal Service worker who was charged for her involvement in a voter fraud scheme ahead of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty on Monday.
According to KREX-TV, former United States Postal Service employee Vicki Stuart and her friend, Sally Maxedon, were charged with stealing multiple ballots of residents in Mesa County, Colorado, filling out the ballots, and submitting the ballots to the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
KREX-TV reported that Stuart pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of forgery and one count of identity theft. The outlet noted that 32 other counts against the former United States Postal Service worker were dropped, including a charge for attempting to influence a public servant.
According to KREX-TV, during Monday’s brief court hearing, Stuart told 21st Judicial District Court Judge Brian Flynn, “I feel guilty for the part I played.”
ABC Denver 7 reported that prosecutors noted in the arrest affidavit against Stuart and Maxedon that the two “conspired a plan to ‘test’ the voting signature system” to see if the county’s signature verification program would detect fraudulent ballots. Stuart was accused of stealing ballots and providing them to Maxedon for the ballots to be filled out.
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“Sally explained that she and Stuart began conversations in October 2024, wherein Sally and Stuart conspired a plan to ‘test’ the voting signature system for ballots utilized at Elections,” the arrest affidavit stated. “This plan included obtaining ballots, forging voter signatures, and then turning the ballots into Mesa County Elections Department.”
The arrest affidavit added, “The stated desired outcome was for Sally and Stuart to determine if the signature verification process would detect if the forged signatures were not those of the known voter signatures on file with Elections.”
According to KREX-TV, sixteen voters reportedly had their ballots stolen in the Colorado voting fraud scheme. The outlet reported that Mesa County Elections staff members were alerted to the issue after residents reported having their ballots rejected due to signature discrepancies.
Colorado Public Radio reported that state officials confirmed that three of the stolen ballots were processed through the Mesa County system and were counted.
