A Pennsylvania man who illegally voted for Donald Trump on behalf of his dead mother in the November presidential election has been sentenced to five years probation.
Bruce Bartman, 70, of Marple, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting. Besides his probation term, he will not be allowed to vote in an election for four years and is no longer eligible to serve on a jury, the Associated Press reports.
Bartman, a Republican, registered two deceased family members — his mother Elizabeth Bartman who died 12 years ago and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Weihman– in August to vote in the 2020 election as Republicans, prosecutors say.
He used the last four digits of his mother-in-law’s Social Security number to register, which was flagged by the system. But the software sent a letter addressed to her to confirm whether she was alive. Bartman lied on the form and pretended to be Weihman, prosecutors said, but ultimately did not request an absentee ballot in her name.
Bartman used his mother’s driver’s license number to register her as a Republican and successfully cast a ballot for Donald Trump and other Republicans on the ticket.
He apologized for his actions in court on Friday, telling the judge “I was isolated last year in lockdown. I listened to too much propaganda and made a stupid mistake,” according to AP.
Bartman was the “only known case of a ‘dead person’ voting in our county, conspiracy theories notwithstanding,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement.
President Biden ultimately won Delaware County and the state of Pennsylvania in the election which led to two lawsuits in the state challenging the validity of the election results. One of the cases reached the Supreme Court where it was thrown out.
