BELCHERTOWN — A married couple has been indicted by a New Hampshire grand jury on suspicion of voting twice in the 2016 presidential election, allegedly casting ballots in both Belchertown, where they own property, and in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announced Wednesday that Grace Fleming, 70, and John S. Fleming Jr., 71, of Hampton, New Hampshire, are alleged to have violated state statutes that prohibit knowingly checking in at the checklist and voting in both New Hampshire and any other state and knowingly voting more than once for any office or measure.
Both violations amount to felony charges, and if convicted, the couple can face up to seven years in prison and a $4,000 fine on each charge. They may also lose their voting rights in the state.
The Flemings own property at 16 Alden Ave. in Belchertown, acccording to town and state land records.
According to Belchertown Town Clerk Colleen Toothill-Berte, the Flemings registered to vote on Aug. 18, 2016. The 2016 presidential election was the only race that the couple voted in within the town, and both are registered Republicans.
The town clerk in Hampton, New Hampshire, could not be reached for comment.
The Flemings came to authorities’ attention through the Interstate Voter Crosscheck Program, which detects individuals who are registered to vote in more than one state by comparing records across states.
Attempts to reach the Flemings at their Massachusetts and New Hampshire phone numbers on Thursday were unsuccessful. Grace Fleming spoke with New Hampshire Public Radio on Wednesday, where she called the double voting “an honest mistake due to medical issues.” The Flemings are scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 5 in Rockingham County Superior Court in New Hamsphire.
In the interview with NHPR, Grace Fleming said the couple cooperated with the attorney general’s office after they were first contacted by an investigator in June.
She told the radio station she and her husband spend time at their residences in both New Hampshire and Belchertown and had voted in New Hampshire in the past. She said that she was recovering from a medical procedure at the time of the 2016 presidential election, and that her husband had been preoccupied with caring for her and managing household affairs. As a result, she continued, the couple forgot that they had already sent in their New Hampshire absentee ballots and voted in-person in Belchertown on Election Day.
Toothill-Berte, however, said Thursday that the Flemings voted early in person.
The investigation follows President Donald Trump’s claim that he lost New Hampshire only because “thousands” of people came by bus to vote against him. Trump has alleged repeatedly and without evidence that voter fraud cost him the popular vote. He later created a commission to investigate voter fraud that was shut down after states refused to comply with its request for detailed voter data. Concerns about voter fraud also have fueled multiple efforts in the Republican-controlled state Legislature to tighten the state’s election laws.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.