Walker County man convicted for voter fraud

William Chase
William Chase

A Walker County, Georgia, man has been convicted of fraud after he submitted someone else's ballot that mistakenly was sent to him during the January 2021 runoff election.

On Nov. 16, a jury found William Chase, 62, guilty of forgery in the first degree, illegal acts regarding election documents, unlawful acts regarding elector's vote and repeat voting in same election, according to a news release from the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office.

Chase was sentenced to 25 years, with the first 15 years to be served in the Georgia Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.

"This defendant sought to disenfranchise a Walker County citizen," District Attorney Chris Arnt said in the release. "Thankfully Mr. Chase's voter fraud was caught and we had sufficient evidence to successfully prosecute him. This prosecution, along with the stiff prison sentence, will hopefully send a clear message that we do not tolerate voter fraud in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit."

It was the only election fraud conviction in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit since the 2020 election, Arnt said via email.

(READ MORE: How Georgia's Senate runoff between Walker and Warnock works)

An investigation began after a Walker County resident reported that she didn't receive an absentee ballot for the January 2021 runoff election in Georgia, but her husband received one. When the resident called the Elections Office, officials found that her ballot had already been accepted but not yet counted, according to the news release.

The ballot had the required signature, but the resident said it was not her signature when she examined the ballot at the Elections Office. According to the release, election officials immediately canceled the forged ballot and sent the resident a new ballot.

The resident's ballot had been sent to an old address, a post office box in LaFayette used by Chase, who had already submitted his own ballot for the 2021 runoff election, the release states.

After Georgia Bureau of Investigation analysis, Chase's fingerprint was found on the fradulent ballot.

Chase has had other felony convictions, according to the release, including bankruptcy fraud, theft by shoplifting, forgery in the first degree, stealing public documents, financial identity fraud and impersonating an officer.

(READ MORE: Georgia Senate runoff between Warnock, Walker has bitter closing)

According to a 2021 news release, the Georgia Secretary of State's Office sent 35 cases of election law violations to local district attorneys or the attorney general for incidents during elections dating back to 2019. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in the release that the incidents did not change the outcome of any elections but did affect the total number of votes in some of the contests.

A question directed to the Secretary of State's Office about the total number of convictions from those 35 criminal referrals was not answered before deadline.

Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.

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