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 system for voter fraud.

A Nelson County jury found 67-year-old Richardson Carter Bell Jr. not guilty of attempting to vote more than once in the same election. According to the Washington Post, Bell, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, admitted voting early at his local registrar’s office only to also show up at a nearby polling place on Election Day.

  • @[email protected]
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    175 hours ago

    So he apparently didn’t actually vote twice. He voted early. Then, on the day of the election he went to a polling place to attempt to vote again. When they looked up his name, they saw he had already voted and presumably didn’t allow him to vote again. Because he didn’t actually vote twice, there’s no way they’d be able to find him guilty of voting twice. That’d be like charging someone with murder where the victim is still alive. They ended up charging him with attempted voter fraud. And if he told them something like “Had they allowed me in and given me a ballot I would not have filled it out and voted again. I was just testing the system.” I could see people going easy on one of their own.

    • @[email protected]
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      83 hours ago

      Just a little more context, because the article is really light on the details. After he had been turned away, the cops showed up at his house to interview him and he denied that it was him and it must have been someone else. This defense only came up later after his arreest.

      It’s BS and I suspect the only reason he was let off is because the town is overwhelmingly red and the jury was packed with Trump supporters. And of course they don’t care about voter fraud when their side commits it, only when they imagine the other side is.

    • @[email protected]
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      154 hours ago

      We punish people for DUI’s harshly because they COULD cause harm. They get charges beyond the DUI when someone IS harmed. This is like saying a person drove a car at parade full speed but ran into a baracade. “I was just testing the baracade to make sure the people in the parade would be safe.”

      • @[email protected]
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        24 hours ago

        But driving under the influence is literally the charge. There’s also reckless endangerment and other tack on charges. You couldn’t necessarily tack on attempted homicide, because intent is required.

        In this case, attempted voter fraud is literally the charge. Sentencing guidelines are a state level decision.

        That’s just how the law works. If you want more punishment for failed voter fraud, pressure the state to increase the sentencing guidelines.

        • @[email protected]
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          43 hours ago

          “was acquitted of attempted illegal voting”

          Maybe you read something different than I did. He was acquitted of attempting to do what he did.

          Therefore someone driving drunk, should be acquitted of driving drunk, right? That is worded as the attempt is the charge, not the act.

          Which is why I compared it to something that we ban because it could injure someone, and then change the charges when they do harm someone.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 hour ago

            Except he didn’t vote twice. He got in line to do it. He was turned away. From there he could try to say he never actually intended to vote again and would have not filled out another ballot and submitted it.

            The drink driving analogy to this is walking to your vehicle while drunk with your keys in your hand. Or sitting in your vehicle. In many states and jurisdictions if you are sitting in the car even without keys or actual intent to drive you can be convicted of “DUI”.

            • @[email protected]
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              131 minutes ago

              Charge: “Attempted voter fraud”

              That says nothing about voting twice, it says attempting.

              He showed up tried to vote, got denied, lied to the police saying that it wasn’t him, and then when he showed up to court obviously has to admit he did attempt to do so, but only did so because he was testing the system.

              What part did I miss?

              I’d say we can look up what the actual charge is listed as for that state, but honestly I think we might be better off not searching things about such right now.

  • @[email protected]
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    859 hours ago

    I’m going to go buy some crack to test the system. Let’s see how that turns out for me.

    • TunaCowboy
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      36 hours ago

      If the majority of your county are crackheads and you opt for a jury trial you might just pull it off.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 hours ago

        Laws are written in such a way that they don’t allow the jury to decide if what the person did was right or wrong, just if they did or did not do what was said.

        Do you agree they had a pipe in their possession? Yes - jail.

        Do you agree they had the drug on them?

        Yes -jail.

        The jury doesn’t get to decide if they think it was okay for them to have the pipe/drug on them. A lawyer does their best to spin it in a way that maybe makes it appear the officer illegally made a search to make all subsequent findings inadmissable and invalid for charging. Or that the possession was not actually the person. But usually it comes down to, we found this on your person… And conviction of possession.

          • @[email protected]
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            3 hours ago

            From said page:

            In 1988, the Sixth Circuit upheld a jury instruction: “There is no such thing as valid jury nullification.” In United States v. Thomas (1997), the Second Circuit ruled that jurors can be removed if there is evidence that they intend to nullify the law. The Supreme Court has not recently confronted the issue of jury nullification. In 2017, a jury was instructed: “You cannot substitute your sense of justice, whatever that means, for your duty to follow the law, whether you agree with it or not. It is not for you to determine whether the law is just or whether the law is unjust. That cannot be your task. There is no such thing as valid jury nullification. You would violate your oath and the law if you willfully brought a verdict contrary to the law given to you in this case.” The Ninth Circuit upheld the first three sentences of the jury’s instruction and overruled the remainder but deemed that instruction a harmless error and affirmed the conviction.[67]


            Looks like it will get messy about whether such would be allowed, and whether you yourself could catch trouble for ruling against the law.

            • TunaCowboy
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              13 hours ago

              Consider reviewing my initial comment, pay particular attention to if, and, and might

  • @[email protected]
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    9 hours ago

    Wow, that’s a lot less than 5 years. And he even did it on purpose!!!
    The “testing” excuse is totally irrelevant, but he is white and he is Republican…

  • BigFig
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    429 hours ago

    Wtf, meanwhile you can go to prison for a sting operation where a victim does not exist or the illegal item/items you are buying do not actually exist

    • @[email protected]
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      24 hours ago

      Someone should argue that every arrest made by undercover officers pretending to be prostitutes should be thrown out under this.

      Just because you said yes, or even paid, doesn’t mean you would have actually had sex, so you in reality could have just paid to “test” if the prostitute would actually agree.

    • @[email protected]
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      179 hours ago

      Rob a liquor store with an unloaded gun but someone present has a heart attack? Murder.

      Rob a liquor store with an unloaded gun but the guy behind the counter pulls out a loaded one and kills your accomplise? Also murder.

      Buy some heroin for you and your partner to use, leading you both to overdose, but you survive? Believe it or not, also murder.

        • @[email protected]
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          88 hours ago

          The second one too. If you’re committing a crime and someone dies as a direct result of that crime, it’s on you.

          • @[email protected]
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            4 hours ago

            No, because it isn’t proportional.

            A homeless man stealing a bottle of water with a security guard shooting up half the store due to bad aim as a result should not be charged for murder.

            Besides, murder should always require intent to kill. Robbery - including armed robbery - does not usually imply this.

          • @[email protected]
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            5 hours ago

            I would say the person doing the crime himself is to blame for his own death. I think there’s a difference between an accomplice and an innocent dying.

            But its a fine line, I agree, and also depends on other variables. If I start applying it to other examples:

            If you are trespassing in a train tunnel doing graffiti, the train comes and you get out but your buddy gets hit, is it murder? I’d say not really.

            If you’re racing and your buddy hits a tree, it’s not really murder either yet he wouldn’t of been racing alone. It’s a two player sport so I’d tend to say guilty.

            Would your buddy have stayed home instead of robbing the store if you weren’t there to help him, it’s hard to say but I’d tend to go not guilty.

            It also seems a bit vindictive but like I said, I understand the sentiment.

          • Pennomi
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            48 hours ago

            The hard part is that “direct” is subjective and up to interpretation of the court.

            • @[email protected]
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              36 hours ago

              Depends on the state. In mine it doesn’t matter. If someone dies while you’re committing a crime, you’re responsible regardless.

      • @stonerboner
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        28 hours ago

        But these make sense. If someone is harmed in the process of you committing a crime, you are at least partly responsible for that harm. I agree with these, but I can see how they can be weaponized as well

  • notsure
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    269 hours ago

    What happens if, and I use a strong IF, a democrat did this? Oh, yeah, honest mistakes aren’t allowed, but blatant flouting of laws is? do I need to put the /s?

    • @[email protected]
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      139 hours ago

      It was a jury trial and the county went 51% trump four years ago…

      So depends on what the jury makeup is.

      • abff08f4813c
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        88 hours ago

        From the linked washingtonpost article though ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/10/29/gop-voter-virginia-vote-twice/ : https://archive.is/U7AoW#selection-755.0-755.327 ), it sounds like the defense had a very good argument.

        Defense attorney Matthew L. Pack contended that Bell would not have gone through with voting more than once in the same election — a felony punishable by one to five years in prison — if poll workers had actually handed him a ballot.

        But he never got the chance to demonstrate that because

        As it happened, the workers quickly discovered that he had already voted and turned him away.

        Speaking neutrally, it’s good that we have a system in place that requires a high level of evidence - such as regarding intent - before finding someone guilty. I’d just hope that it equally protects folks regardless of if they are blue or red.

          • abff08f4813c
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            38 hours ago

            Oh, agreed. Should have a way to punish someone for trying (e.g. attempted murder charges because the police stopped the murder and saved the intended victim). But even then, one still has to be able to prove it, and the level of proof - beyond a reasonable doubt - is as high as it is for good reason.

            Now, if the accused had encountered police detectives at that polling station instead of real election workers, I imagine it would have gone like this:

            (Police detective posing as a poll worker prepares an otherwise blank but non-obviously spoiled ballot.)

            “Ok sir, here’s your ballot.”

            Choice A: “Thanks, here’s the ballot, yay I just voted.” “Sir, you’re under arrest.”

            Choice B: “Um… actually I already voted.” “Yes we know sir, I see it right here, but we were just testing you.” “No, hey, wait, I was trying to test you.” “…”

            It’s not a reasonable expectation to ask actual election workers - poll working volunteers - to do anything like the above, though.

      • The Pantser
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        48 hours ago

        Yup it’s only illegal if your peers deem it. Which is why you should always stick to areas where you are a commoner and not an outsider. Which is why I avoid the south like it’s radioactive.

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