Wood County Voter Sentenced for Election Fraud

​​Charleston, W.Va – West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is announcing another conviction for election fraud referred for prosecution by his Investigations Division.

On August 29, 2022, defendant Kathryn Nestor of Vienna appeared before Wood County Magistrate Jody Purkey and entered a plea of no contest to the misdemeanor charge of False Swearing in violation of West Virginia Election Code § 3-9-3.

The charge stemmed from an incident where the defendant signed the names of others, without authority, upon a mayoral candidate’s nomination petition for the 2020 Vienna Municipal Election.

Persons seeking nomination to become a candidate through the use of a nomination petition must obtain a certain number of signatures from registered voters in the political division for which they seek nomination to have their name placed on the ballot.

The certificates must be personally signed by registered voters in their own handwriting. According to public records, Nestor signed the names of other persons in Wood County, without their permission, to a mayoral candidate’s nomination petition.

"No violation of our election law is insignificant," said Secretary Warner. "My office will continue to work closely with our municipal clerks and our county clerks to investigate and pursue the prosecution of any person who attempts to cheat in any election."

Nestor was sentenced to 10 days in jail, which the Magistrate suspended, 6 months of unsupervised probation, and a $50.00 fine.

According to Warner, it is a misdemeanor crime in West Virginia for a person to knowingly make a false statement or representation in any declaration required by the Election Code.

With the 2022 General Election scheduled for November 8, 2022, citizens are encouraged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity or irregularities to the Secretary of State’s Office. Citizens can call ​877-FRAUD-WV to make a report, or participate in the "See Something, TEXT Something!" initiative. This allows a citizen to file a complaint quickly using their cell phone, and even submit photos of a potential violation directly to our Investigations Unit. To use the text-to-report technology, text "WV" to 45995.