Sanchez-Vasquez

An election misconduct investigation is underway by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Joel Phillips said on Wednesday that Jorge Oscar Sanchez-Vasquez, 42, of Marshalltown, was charged with false ballot and registration fraud violations in connection with offenses alleged to have occurred during the special 4th Ward Marshalltown city council election on July 16. The first court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2 in the Marshall County Courthouse.

“We attempted to contact him a couple times,” Phillips said. “We finally contacted him on the phone, and he agreed to turn himself in.”

The July special election was to fill a vacant Marshalltown City Council seat after the passing of longtime Councilor Al Hoop. Two candidates, Melisa Fonseca and Mark Eaton, ran for the position, and Fonseca prevailed, receiving 340 votes to Eaton’s 264.

Since the election fraud investigation is ongoing, Phillips is limited in what he could share. However, he did say that the investigation indicates Sanchez-Vasquez knew what he was doing. He added this is the only incident involving an identification, and his office is not investigating anyone else.

“He had full knowledge (that) he was not valid to vote,” Phillips said. “This typically does not happen.”

The sheriff was notified by Marshall County Auditor Nan Benson and Attorney Jordan Gaffney about the alleged activity. From there, his office conducted an investigation and then turned it over to the Iowa Attorney General, which has jurisdiction over such matters. Before 2023, election fraud cases were prosecuted by county attorneys.

Benson recalled a similar case she submitted to Jennifer Miller, who was the Marshall County Attorney at that time.

“She talked to the individual and it was innocent,” Benson said. “There was a language barrier, and they just were not understanding.”

She feels lucky to have only had to deal with two election fraud cases during her time as auditor.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” Benson said.

To help prevent similar incidents in the future, the auditor’s office will include another process in the elections. When an election is held, voters must go through a check-in, present a valid photo identification and be registered. Voter information which the county has will confirm a person’s eligibility.

If a voter is not registered, he or she can do that on election day. When arriving at the polls, the person must show a valid photo identification and provide proof of residency. Then, they must answer two questions about whether or not they are United States citizens and at least 18 years of age by election day. There is a line for signature at the bottom of the page, and a warning if the document is signed and the information is not true, the person may be convicted of perjury.

After Benson and her staff discovered the alleged fraud in the July election, they began discussing changes to implement.

“On election day, we will have an extra step in the process,” she said. “We will be adding another set of eyes to look over registration forms. That will include absentee voting, which begins Oct. 16.”

Benson and Phillips reassured the public that they take election fraud and safety seriously.

“If someone is voting when they are not supposed to be, it will be investigated and turned over to law enforcement,” Benson said. “We are not going to ignore it. It will not be set aside. Anything suspicious will be given to law enforcement.”

Phillips said law enforcement will have an emergency plan in place on election day to identify threats.

“We’ve come up with a plan to have a safe and secure election,” he said. “There are training seminars with the Secretary of State for the election process. At the state and local levels, I know we are doing a good job in preparing for incidents and making sure something doesn’t happen.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.