INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Voter Registration Project and 12 of its employees were charged Friday with falsifying voter registration applications and submitting those applications to the voter registration offices of the Marion County and St. Joseph County Clerks.
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry says officials are not aware of any evidence that fraudulent ballots were cast in the November 2016 election.
"Let me be clear that these are not allegations of voter fraud nor is there any evidence to suggest that voter fraud was the alleged motivation. Without regard to alleged motivation, the paramount concern is protecting the integrity of the electoral process, and intentional irregularities in voter registrations cannot be tolerated, " said Curry.
Some canvassers employed by the Indiana Voter Registration Project were under the belief that they had a quota for the applications, according to a narrative provided in a probable cause affidavit filed Friday.
The investigation began in August 2016 when the Hendricks County Clerk reported to the Indiana State Police that the office had received voter registration applications submitted by the IVRP which appeared to have inconsistencies, missing information, and erroneous data when compared to the on file registrations for voters.
The investigation expanded to Marion County in September andeventually included 56 Indiana counties.
Prosecutor Curry says the evidence warranted criminal charges in connection with allegations related to voter registration applications submitted in Marion and St. Joseph counties.
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Holiday Burke is accused of creating and submitting voter registration applications to various county voter registration offices that she knew were forged or fictitious, according to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. She was charged with procuring or submission of false, fictitious, or fraudulent voter registration application and counterfeiting.
The prosecutor's office says Burke is believed to have been a manager in the IVRP and personally submitted a number of the applications to the county offices. Further, she is accused of refusing to complete affidavits required when a third party files voter registration applications believed to contain false or fraudulent information.
Glynn Parish was charged with procuring or submission of false, fictitious, or fraudulent voter registration application and perjury. According to the prosecutor's office, Parish knowingly procured or submitted voter registration applications known to be materially false, fictitious or fraudulent in St. Joseph County and accepting at least one application from an applicant knowing it contained false information.
The following individuals were charged in Marion County with procuring or submission of false, fictitious, or fraudulent voter registration application and perjury:
- Dallila Alexander
- Makayla Colbert
- Valerie Franklin
- Kylee Garrett
- Tiara Kurtz
- Claude Nash
- Tina Pace
- Tonya Trotter
- Kiziah Tyler
- Jasmin Young
In addition, the Indiana Voter Registration Project is being charged with procuring or submission of false, fictitious, or fraudulent voter registration application and counterfeiting.
According to a narrative provided in a probable cause affidavit filed Friday, detectives learned the following information about the IVRP:
- Employees of IVRP were pressured to obtain 10 applications (quota) per shift, or risk termination
- Employees of IVRP were advised by IVRP supervisors to obtain their quota by any means necessary
- Employees of IVRP would duplicate information from actual voter registration files onto new applications to meet their quota
- Employees of IVRP would commonly not sign the applications and provide those applications to other employees who may not have obtained their quota of applications during their shifts
If convicted, the court could fine the IVRP $10,000.
READ ALL OF THE PROBABLE CAUSE DOCUMENTS HERE
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office had jurisdiction over the allegations in St. Joseph County due to the management of voter files by the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State which is located in Marion County.
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