Fond du Lac man charged with felony voter fraud
FOND DU LAC (WLUK/AP) -- A Fond du Lac man accused of illegally voting in the November 2020 election is facing federal charges.
Donald Holz, 63, is charged with a Class I felony for illegally voting as a disqualified person.
District Attorney Eric Toney released the following statement:
This prosecution is not suggestive that the election was stolen but elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and the integrity of our electoral process must be protected at every turn. We will continue to prosecute any circumstances of voter fraud, as allowed by law, in order to safeguard our electoral process and ensure the public has confidence in our elections. The defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.
According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 24, 2021, a Wisconsin Elections Commission employee notified authorities that Holz was on probation or parole for a felony conviction and voted in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. Charging documents do not indicate who Holz voted for.
According to Wisconsin law, any person convicted of treason, felony or bribery, unless the person's right to vote is restored through a pardon or after their full punishment has been served.
Prosecutors say Holz was convicted in 2019 of a felony sixth OWI offense and was sentenced to five years of probation. A five-year prison sentence was stayed.
When officers went to speak with Holz, the complaint says he said he went online and as far as he knew, it was okay for him to vote. Holz said he wished he had called his probation agent to determine if he was eligible to vote. He also acknowledged he was read the Voter Ineligibility Notice and Acknowledgement and did sign it on Oct. 8, 2019, the complaint reads.
If convicted, Holz faces up to three years and six months in prison and/or a fine up to $10,000.
He is due in court Oct. 12.
Holz is the fourth person in Wisconsin charged with election fraud in last year's election. There were about 3 million votes cast in the state.
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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the person charged Thursday was the fourth, not the third.
