California woman charged with 5 felonies after registering dog to vote, casting mail-in ballots

COSTA MESA, California (KCRA) — A Southern California woman has been charged with multiple felonies after she allegedly registered her dog to vote and cast mail-in ballots in her pet’s name, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, had registered her dog, Maya Jean, to vote and successfully cast a ballot in the dog’s name in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election. She tried to cast another ballot in the dog’s name in the 2022 primary election, but that ballot was rejected.

Yourex was also open about her actions on social media, officials said. She allegedly posted a photo of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker with a ballot in January 2022, and in a post from October 2024, shared a photograph of her dog’s tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption “maya is still getting her ballot,” after the dog’s death.

The district attorney’s office said Yourex self-reported the voter fraud to the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ Office. The registrar’s office then contacted the district attorney’s office.

Yourex is charged with one count of perjury, one count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote and one count of registering a non-existent person to vote.

“According to the California Elections Code, in order to vote a person must be registered as a voter by filling out and submitting an Affidavit of Registration which includes the voter’s name, residence, mailing address, date of birth, political party preference and a certification that the voter is a citizen of the United States. The affidavit must be signed under penalty of perjury,” the district attorney’s office stated in a news release.

In California state elections, an ID is not required to cast a ballot. However, proof of residence and registration is required for first-time voters in a federal election, which is why the 2022 ballot was rejected.

Voter identification laws in recent years have become a heated topic, often brought up in discussions of voter fraud or immigration legal status. In fall 2024, California enacted a law prohibiting local governments from enforcing a voter ID requirement. That law came after voters in Huntington Beach, which is in Orange County, approved a measure that would let the city require voters to show their ID when casting ballots.

The 2021 election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom was voted down by 61.9% of voters, so Maya’s alleged vote would not have swayed the outcome.

However, anyone who suspects any voter fraud is urged to contact their county.

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