Florida man was ‘testing the system’ when he requested mail-in ballot for dead wife, police say

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida man said he was “testing the system” when he forged his dead wife’s signature and requested a mail-in ballot on her behalf, investigators said.

Staff at the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections office noticed a discrepancy in the handwriting style from the original voter registration when they received a ballot request on Sept. 17, WFTS reported.

Manatee County sheriff’s deputies determined the signatures did not match and that the woman had died in 2018.

Investigators met with Larry Wiggins, who admitted to sending the request because he was “testing the system to see if it worked.”

Wiggins, 62, was arrested Thursday and charged with requesting a vote-by-mail ballot on behalf of another elector, a third-degree felony.

“It’s pretty rare,” Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett told WTSP. “Not enough to swing an election normally, but I got to tell you even one fraudulent vote really, really upsets me and so we will prosecute to the full extent of the law.”

Voter fraud is rare.

Of the more than 250 million ballots that have been cast by mail across the country in the last 20 years, only 143 have resulted in a criminal conviction for voter fraud, according to NPR.

Cox Media Group