An elected Democratic official in Washington, D.C., has been fined by the District of Columbia Board of Elections for voting twice in 2020.
Vanessa Rubio, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in D.C., voted in the District of Columbia and Maryland during the 2020 presidential election, according to NBC 4 Washington reporter Mark Segraves. She reportedly told the Board of Elections that since DC is not a state, she believed voting twice would be acceptable.
The Board of Elections found that an individual named Vanessa Rubio voted in person in Maryland on Nov. 1, 2020, and then in DC on Nov. 3, according to a photograph of the memorandum opinion and order posted by Segraves.
Elected DC official fined $500 for committing voter fraud. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner @vanessarubio01 voted in DC & MD in 2020. She told @vote4dc she thought since DC isn’t a state, it was ok. 5 other voters each fined $100 for double voting in 2020 @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/OoPJyULUbo
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) December 18, 2023
The Board’s Office of General Counsel (OFG) obtained evidence that Rubio voted twice, which is a violation of DC law stating “No person shall vote more than once in any election,” according to the memorandum. The OFG investigated voter file materials from the DC and Maryland Board of Elections and found all of them to be associated with Rubio. (RELATED: PA Gov. Elect Josh Shapiro Arrests Democratic Consultant For ‘Wide Scale’ Ballot Fraud)
Rubio then appeared for a pre-hearing conference with the Board of Elections on Aug. 31, in which she stated she voted in person in DC and “did not recall” voting in Maryland, according to the memo. Officials then showed her an image of a Maryland Voter Authority Card from the 2020 General Election that contained her signature.
Rubio acknowledged her signature on the document and said “it is possible” that she had voted in Maryland, the memo reads. She also claimed it was “never really stated that you are not able to vote in more than one state.”
The memo says the General Counsel organized an official hearing for Dec. 6, where Rubio appeared. She admitted to voting twice at the hearing and said she believed it was permissible to vote elsewhere since DC is not a state.
The Board ordered Rubio to pay a $500 civil fine no later than Jan. 8, 2024, according to the document.
“With regard to Ms. Rubio’s defense, we also take judicial notice of the fact that Ms. Rubio is an elected official. Accordingly, we see fit to hold her to a higher standard than other voters,” the memo reads.
Five others were reportedly fined $100 for double voting, Segraves said.