An 86-year-old Minnesota
woman who suffers from dementia is facing a felony voting fraud charge after
she says she accidentally voted twice according to Fox News.com.
Margaret Schneider tells MyFoxTwinCities.com she forgot she had already sent
in her absentee ballot when she went to her polling place in November.
"It's very hard to remember everything," Schneider said.
Schneider says the matter is particularly upsetting to her because she
considers herself a proud American and has voted in every election.
"I've always voted, ever since I've been old enough to," she said.
The criminal complaint against Schneider says records show she submitted her
absentee ballot in July. It claims the roster book at her polling place had the
letters "AB" next to her name, signifying that Schneider had already
cast an absentee ballot.
This aspect of the case is frustrating for Schneider.
"Why didn't they tell me to go home? That's what I'm trying to figure
out," she told MyFoxTwinCities.com.
The county attorney tells the station she had no choice but to file charges
against Schneider, saying she could even lose her job if she refused to.
"If I have probable cause to believe the crime occurred, I do not have
discretion to charge," Michelle Zehnder Fischer said. "I have to
charge it."
Fischer says she has no interest in putting Schneider in jail, and she hopes
the case is resolved quickly.
Schneider says she never would have intentionally voted twice.
"It's against the law to do that," she said.
Minnesota county attorney claims Margaret Schneider voted twice. (myfoxtwincities.com) Courtesy of Fox News.com
