Mark Meadows' Voter Fraud Scandal, Explained

Donald Trump has been vocally on the record about voter fraud in elections, often maligning his 2020 loss and claiming he was cheated out of the presidency. Unfortunately for the Trump camp, it appears one of their own became the subject of voter fraud accusations. Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows found himself in hot water in 2022 after it was revealed that he listed a false address in North Carolina to cast an absentee ballot in the state in 2020. Ironically, Meadows was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at an anti-voter fraud event in Arizona only a few days before this shocking revelation.

But, that isn't where the drama surrounding the scandal ends. Records obtained by the Washington Post's Fact Checker revealed, only days after the initial story, that Meadows was registered to vote in not one, not two, but three states. He was quickly removed from voter rolls in North Carolina and an investigation ensued with possible charges looming. Voter fraud, including using a false address on a registration form, is a federal crime and a felony. While something obviously didn't add up, a federal committee decided there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a crime occurred and neither Meadows nor his wife Debbie faced prosecution.

Mark Meadows wasn't the only Trump aide to become embroiled in a scandal surrounding voting issues. According to the Associated Press, Matt Mowers voted twice during the 2016 primary election. He apparently cast an absentee ballot in New Hampshire, then re-registered in New Jersey four months later to cast another vote in a pivotal battleground state. He used his parents' address for the New Jersey registration. Just like Meadows, Mower is unlikely to face any charges or penalties thanks to the statute of limitations running out on his actions.

Mowers and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows seem to have violated the integrity of the U.S. election system, something deeply opposite the very topic of focus for their party in recent years. The utter irony of Meadows committing voter fraud while simultaneously talking up election integrity and warning the public of fraud against former president Trump is incredible. Meadows was even found to be actively searching out instances of voter fraud to use as proverbial ammo in his warnings to the public, all while being registered to cast votes in three states at once.