Two Republicans, including a candidate for local office and a County Republican Party official have been charged with election fraud in Marion, Ohio.
The GOP candidate for Marion City Auditor, Robert Landon, and Marion County Republican Party official John Matthews have both been charged with distributing phony sample ballots, according to ABC6 News. “A party official or candidate handing out a sample ballot could face up to six months in jail and a $1000 fine if convicted.”
Noting that “Ohio law bans political parties or candidates from handing out sample ballots,” ABC6 News reports they “look just like a sample ballot a voter could get from the county board of elections but it has boxes highlighting where the Republican candidates are.”
In 2015, according to The Columbus Dispatch, Matthews served as GOP county chairman and pleaded guilty to doing work for Governor John Kasich’s presidential campaign while he was supposed to be working at a six-figure government job.