PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Bethlehem man was convicted Wednesday of federal election fraud charges for voting twice in the 2020 presidential election, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced.
Matthew Laiss, 32, was found guilty at trial on one count of voting more than once in a federal election and one count of voter fraud.
Federal prosecutors said Laiss had been registered to vote in Ottsville, Bucks County, from at least October 2012 through August 2020.
Court filings show that Laiss moved his primary residence in August 2020 to Frostproof, Florida, where he obtained a Florida driver’s license and registered to vote.
In October 2020, the Bucks County Board of Elections mailed a ballot for the November general election to Laiss’s former address in Ottsville, where his parents continued to live.
Prosecutors said Laiss completed and returned the Pennsylvania mail-in ballot on or about October 31, 2020, casting a vote for president and vice president.
Authorities said he then voted again in person on November 3, 2020, at a polling location in or near Frostproof, Florida.
“Casting a ballot in more than one jurisdiction undermines public trust and dilutes the votes of others,” Metcalf said in a statement.
Laiss is scheduled to be sentenced June 10, 2026.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 for each charge.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dubnoff is prosecuting the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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