For Immediate Release
September 26, 2018
Contact:
Kate Spiner, Director of Communications
603-573-6103
kate.spiner@doj.nh.gov
Indictment of Spencer McKinnon for Voting in More Than One State during the Same Election
Concord, NH – Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announces that on September 20, 2018, Spencer McKinnon, age 20, was indicted by the Strafford County Grand Jury for alleged violations of RSA 659:34-a for knowingly voting in more than one state during the November 2016 General Election. McKinnon is scheduled to be arraigned in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover on October 4, 2018.
The indictment alleges that Spencer McKinnon checked in at the checklist and cast a ballot in Durham, New Hampshire during the November 8, 2016 General Election. He also submitted an absentee ballot for the same General Election in Dracut, Massachusetts. Both the New Hampshire and Massachusetts General Election ballots listed one or more federal or statewide offices.
These acts are in violation of RSA 659:34-a, Voting in More Than One State Prohibited, which makes it a class B felony to knowingly check in at the checklist and cast a New Hampshire ballot on which one or more federal or statewide offices are listed if the person also casts a ballot in the same election held in any other state where one or more federal or statewide offices are listed.
This charge carries a maximum penalty of 3½-7 years of imprisonment and a $4,000 fine. Additionally, anyone convicted of a willful violation of the state’s election laws may lose the right to vote in this state pursuant to the New Hampshire Constitution.
New Hampshire is part of the Interstate Voter Crosscheck Program, which is a multi-state database that is used to compare voter information for the purpose of detecting voters who are registered in more than one state.
The Secretary of State is tasked with the responsibility of investigating matches found in the crosscheck database for the purpose of determining if an individual has cast more than one ballot in a single election. The results of that investigation are then forwarded to the Attorney General.
In May of 2018, the Secretary of State’s office referred 51 cases to the Attorney General for further investigation. The Attorney General’s investigation into these cases remains active and ongoing.
This is the third person indicted since New Hampshire entered the Interstate Voter Crosscheck Program signed into law in 2016.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Matthew T. Broadhead of the Election Law Unit and John J. Kennedy of the Criminal Justice Bureau. The Attorney General’s investigation was conducted by Chief Investigator Richard Tracy of the Election Law Unit.
The charges and allegations are merely accusations. Spencer McKinnon is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.