A Chehalis man charged in late 2023 for voting twice — once in Oregon and once in Washington — during the 2022 general election was found guilty of a felony repeat voter charge in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The charge is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on June 3.
James Anthoney Padrta, 62, was charged Dec. 1, 2023, for mailing in a Washington ballot on Oct. 27, 2022, and mailing in an Oregon ballot on Nov. 3, 2022.
Judge J. Andrew Toynbee found Padrta guilty as charged at the end of a non-jury trial in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday, May 14.
When questioned by a detective, Padrta “informed (the detective) he did vote in both states because he was a ‘dual resident’ of both and received ballots from both states,” according to court documents.
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a cross-state organization that compares voter rolls and voting history, uncovered the error and notified both the Washington Secretary of State's Office and the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, according to the Lewis County Auditor’s Office. The Washington Secretary of State’s office subsequently notified the Lewis County Auditor’s office, which researched the issue and forwarded information to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
Evidence presented at trial included a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office incident report, ballot envelopes and voter information from both states, and a case file from an Oregon elections investigation into the incident.
