A Wisconsin man has avoided jail time after pleading guilty to casting a vote in McHenry County during the November 2020 election despite living in Wisconsin.
Robert J. Sandy, 50, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was charged in November 2021 with one count of perjury in election code, a Class 3 felony.
He was later additionally charged with disregard of the election code, a Class A misdemeanor.
A McHenry County sheriff’s detective said in a criminal complaint that Sandy knowingly made a false statement when he signed a ballot application on November 3, 2020.
The complaint said that Sandy certified he resided at a residence in the 700 block of Nancy Lane in McHenry for 30 days or more proceeding to the general election.
In a tweet posted to Twitter on November 6, 2020, which appeared to be from the same Robert Sandy, the account user admitted to traveling from Kenosha to McHenry County to vote in the election.
“While I now live in Kenosha, WI, I never felt secure enough with the system, nor with my ability to maintain a life here, to attempt to change my voter registration from IL-14 prior to the election,” Sandy wrote.
“It was also very important to me that I vote for Lauren Underwood again. So, I got up early on Tuesday and traversed the 45 miles between my new home and my old one in order to have that privilege. And it WAS. The race has not been called yet, and while Lauren is currently trailing her opponent the margins are razor thin,” Sandy said in the tweet.
Jim Oberweis, who lost to Lauren Underwood in the 14th Congressional District race, referred to Sandy’s tweet in a January 2021 press release where he announced he was filing a notice of contest.
“A voter from Kenosha, WI voted illegally in IL-14 and tweeted about it,” Oberweis said. “To think that a voter drove from his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin to vote on election day in McHenry County and it was allowed to happen calls into question the integrity of the election.”
An arrest warrant was approved for Sandy on November 18, 2021, by a McHenry County judge, court records show.
Sandy surrendered on the warrant a short time later and was released after posting 10% of a $15,000 bond.
Court records show Sandy pleaded guilty last month to one count of disregard of the election code, a Class A misdemeanor.
Prosecutors dismissed his felony charge in exchange for the plea.
McHenry County Judge James Cowlin approved the plea and sentenced Sandy to six months of conditional discharge.
Cowlin also ordered Sandy to perform 20 hours of public service and pay $1,189 in court fines and fees.