Earlier this month federal prosecutors announced a Bethlehem man was convicted of election fraud by a federal jury for voting twice in the 2020 presidential election
United States Attorney David Metcalf announced Matthew Laiss, 32, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was convicted at trial on March 3 of election fraud offenses in connection with the 2020 presidential election.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Laiss was charged by indictment in September of last year with one count of voting more than once in a federal election and one count of voter fraud and was convicted on both charges.
According to court filings, from at least October 2012 until about August 2020, Laiss resided in, and was lawfully registered to vote in, Ottsville, Pennsylvania, a municipality located in Bucks County. In or around August 2020, Laiss moved his primary residence from Ottsville, to Frostproof, Florida. The same month, he applied for and obtained a Florida driver’s license and registered to vote in Florida.
In or about October 2020, the Bucks County Board of Elections mailed a ballot for the November 2020 general election to the Laiss’ former address in Ottsville, Pennsylvania, where his parents continued to reside.
As proven at trial, on or about October 31, 2020, Laiss filled out and returned the Pennsylvania mail-in ballot, casting a vote for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America, prosecutors say.
Then, according to investigators, on or about November 3, 2020, Laiss went to a polling location in or around Frostproof, Florida, and voted in the 2020 general election, casting a vote for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America.
According to a Penn Capital-Star report, the double voting was uncovered with the help of a multistate voter roll maintenance program called ERIC, which was the target of conservative attacks in the years after the 2020 election.
Numerous conservative-run states left ERIC between the 2020 and 2024 election, including Florida, where Laiss was double-registered, the report says
Pennsylvania remains an ERIC member state, even though legislation has been authored by Republicans at the state level to withdraw from the program, according to state records.
This “…conviction reinforces a simple principle: our elections must be fair, secure, and lawful, ” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Casting a ballot in more than one jurisdiction undermines public trust and dilutes the votes of others. Our office will continue to protect the integrity of federal elections and hold accountable those who violate the law.”
Laiss is scheduled to be sentenced June 10, 2026, and faces a maximum possible sentence of five years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $10,000 to $250,000 fine, for each of the charges on which he was convicted.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of State, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Dubnoff.
Editor’s Note: Mr Laiss in myriad of media reports publicly declared his support and votes for President Trump in the 2020 Elections