UNITED STATES—Isabel Calderon, 46, was arrested and charged on Wednesday, June 17, by the Howard County Sheriff’s Office in Texas for illegal voting during the primary elections.
According to records, Calderon voted twice in the March primaries, once during the early voting of the election and a second time the day off. Howard County was made aware of the incident through the Secretary of State Elections who referenced Calderon as a suspect for having duplicate ballots issued in her name. The investigation began on March 3, the day of Texas’ primary elections.
“After each election, an audit is conducted to ensure the voting activity is documented for each voter. Even though the ballot is secret, the day, party affiliation, and the voting location is noted for each voter. It was discovered that one voter had a duplicate activity for the March Primary Election held March 3, 2020. My office investigated and it was determined that the voter indeed voted twice by personal appearance, once during early voting and once on Election Day,” said Jodi Duck, Howard County Election Administrator.
The case was handed over to Texas Ranger Todd Reed March 13, to prevent a conflict of interest over Howard County Sheriff Stan Parker being listed on the ballot. Calderon confessed to voting twice to Reed in an interview with the Texas Ranger. Calderon is reported to be a paid member of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) which is based out of Big Springs, Texas.
“Due to the oversight, I will have new procedures, more training, and equipment replacement that will help mitigate any future circumstances of illegal voting, whether intentional or voter error. Election security and integrity are the foundation of fair elections. We work very hard to maintain the trust of our county,” said Duck. “It was absolutely necessary to come forward with this information and to allow for an outside review of the situation. It was an unfortunate circumstance and I am taking the steps to ensure our volunteers are prepared as well as educating our voters on the law.”
