ELKINS — A rural Pendleton County mail carrier has been charged with allegedly manipulating absentee voter requests.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner announced the federal criminal charge May 26 against Thomas Cooper, 47, of Dry Fork. An investigator with Morrisey's office gathered the evidence on behalf of the Secretary of State's office.
Cooper is charged in federal court with attempting to defraud the residents of West Virginia of a fair election. According to an affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint, Cooper fraudulently altered eight absentee ballot requests in Pendleton County. The criminal complaint claims he fraudulently changed the party affiliation on five from Democrat to Republican.
Morrisey
“Manipulating one’s absentee ballot or application is not a laughing matter – it’s a federal offense,” Morrisey said. “We must protect the integrity of the ballot box, and this demonstrates the aggressive action we will take to do so.
"It is more important now than ever for voters to watch for unexplained or suspicious marks and/or any other irregularity with their ballot. If something looks suspicious, let us know right away.”
According to the affidavit, Cooper accessed the ballot requests through his employment as a rural mail carrier. He was responsible for mail delivery in the three towns – Onego, Riverton and Franklin – from which the tampered requests were mailed. The affidavit says Cooper admitted to altering some of the requests.
In April, investigator Bernie Cogar of the AG's office and U.S. Postal Service Inspector Todd Phillips interviewed Cooper. During the interview, Cooper said he changed requests that had been placed in the mail at the Onega post office. As for the others, Cooper said, "I'm not saying no ... (but) if it was on my route, I would take the blame."
Cogar then asked Cooper if he was "just being silly."
"Yeah, (I did it) as a joke," Cooper replied. "(I) don't even know them."
One of the voters said all four members of his family requested a Democrat ballot by placing a blue ink line under the word “Democrat," and that they did not use black ink. They said they did not request a Republican ballot. His daughter just happens to be the Onego postmaster and personally placed all four of the requests in the mail at her post office on April 9. Knowing this, the postmaster suggested that a mail carrier might have tampered with their requests.
“Had Cooper’s conduct not been detected, it would have caused the Clerk to give Republican ballots to five Democrat voters — skewing the primary election by five votes and thereby defrauding all West Virginians of a fair election,” Cogar stated in the affidavit.
Morrisey's office says the alterations were caught by an elections official in the Pendleton County Courthouse and reported to the state’s Election Fraud Task Force.
Warner praised the alertness and quick reaction by Pendleton County election officials.
“We want everyone to be tuned into the increased opportunities for fraud," Warner said. "Voting absentee makes it easy to vote, but increases opportunities for irregularities and fraud to occur. If you see something, say something.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Warner is prosecuting the case. The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office, West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office and the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General investigated.
Morrisey's office says the incident shows why some are concerned about fraudsters being able to steal or manipulate absentee ballots now that more people will use a mail-in, absentee ballot due to social distancing concerns driven by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, Morrisey and Mac Warner alerted voters to potential warning signs of absentee voter fraud, including the theft of absentee ballots from mailboxes, the submission of absentee ballot applications in the name of a recently deceased person and the submitting of more than two ballots during an election cycle – also known as ballot harvesting.
The pair also said no one should accept assistance in filling out a ballot unless he or she know and completely trust the person to ward off any fraudster looking to substitute his or her choice over that of the legitimate voter. Even then, the helper should mark the ballot in front of the voter and sign the affidavit on the absentee ballot envelope.
They also asked that anyone who suspects potential voter fraud contact the Secretary of State’s Election Fraud Hotline toll free at 1-877-FRAUD-WV.
Morrisey also asked those with reports of price gouging, scams and consumer fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic to contact the AG's Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808, the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239 or visit the office online at www.wvago.gov.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 2:20-mj-00018-MJA