Woman Who Said She Cast 2 Ballots in Dog’s Name Faces Criminal Charges

A Californian woman who allegedly obtained extra voting ballots by registering her dog has been charged with five crimes and is facing time in prison.

Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, voted illegally in two elections using mail-in ballots obtained by registering her dog, named Maya Jean Yourex, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office stated on Sept. 5.

California does not require voter identification or proof of residence to register to vote or to vote on Election Day in state elections. However, proof of residence is required for first-time voters in federal elections, and residents sign affidavits with their name, address, date of birth, political party preference, and U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury when they register.

As a result, one of Yourex’s fraudulent ballots was counted, while the other was not. Her fraudulent ballot in the state’s 2021 gubernatorial recall election was accepted, but her ballot for the 2022 primary election in June 2022, ahead of the November 2022 midterms, was rejected, according to the office.

The office did not reveal Yourex’s preferred political party.

Yourex is facing five felony charges, including perjury, procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, casting ballots when not entitled to vote, and registering a nonexistent person to vote, the DA’s office stated.

The office stated that it became aware of the illegal ballots on Oct. 28, 2024, after Yourex self-reported to the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office about the ballots she submitted under her dog’s name. It noted that Yourex had allegedly bragged about her dog casting ballots, sharing a photo of her dog with an “I Voted” sticker in January 2022 and another photo of the vote-by-mail ballot address to her dog, Maya, in October 2022, prosecutors said.

“Maya is still getting her ballot,” Yourex said in the second post, although the dog had died by then.

Yourex faces up to six years in prison. She is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 9.

Anyone with information regarding any suspected election-related irregularities is asked to call the Orange County District Attorney’s Election Fraud Hotline at 657-707-4048 or email 2024.elections@ocdapa.org.

California’s Orange County Registrar of Voters, Robert Page, had a suit filed against him by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in June for withholding information about 17 noncitizens who were allegedly registered to vote in the county in the 2024 election. In August, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to refuse to comply with the DOJ’s demands to turn over voter registration records, and the issue remains in court.

The Trump administration has taken action to ensure that states are enforcing U.S. election laws, including the Help America Vote Act, in their election process, among other actions.

The DOJ has sent letters to more than 20 other states requesting details about the enforcement of U.S. law in their election processes after allegations of noncitizens voting.

President Donald Trump said on Aug. 30 that he plans to issue another executive order to require voter ID to vote in federal elections after a March order to the same effect was met with legal challenges.

He has also said he would take presidential action to end mail-in ballots and require a return to paper ballots but did not include these points in his most recent comments about his planned executive actions.