A man who attempted to vote twice in Virginia's 2023 election was acquitted of attempted illegal voting on Monday, following his claims in court that he had been testing the the system for voter fraud.

NELSON COUNTY, Va. — A jury in this bright-red corner of rural Virginia found an avid Donald Trump fan not guilty of attempted illegal voting in a one-day trial Monday, accepting the man’s claim that he was only trying to test the election system for voter fraud when he asked to vote a second time in local elections last year.

Archived at https://archive.is/U7AoW

  • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]
    1•2 months ago

    Even if he did get a second ballot and casted it, that should be on the system to deal with. As long as there’s not attempted fraud (ie: impersonating another person/fake ID, multiple identities, etc). Voting a second time could also just be an attempt to change your vote and invalidate the original ballot as well and now that digital systems are widespread, it would be a relatively easy thing to do.

    • @[email protected]
      6•2 months ago

      Your argument is that it is on the system to deal with crime and that a person who commits a crime, even for what is perceived to be a good reason, should not be held liable for breaking the law?

      I get that he didn’t actually commit the crime in this case, so there is plausible deniability. But criminal court treats attempting a crime as a crime itself, though with lesser penalties. And in your scenario a crime would have been committed.

      • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]
        1•2 months ago

        Its only a crime if you make it a crime. Not saying the courts should be deciding that; election law should. If the system is designed to just not double count votes and use whatever the last cast ballot says, then there’s no issue with casting another ballot, so why should it be a crime to cast 2 or 3 ballots?