Man indicted for illegally voting

June 23, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

mahoning county

YOUNGSTOWN

An Austintown man was indicted Thursday by a Mahoning County grand jury on two counts of illegal voting.

Konstantinos Leonidas Mouzos, 69, of Compass West Drive, is charged with voting illegally in the March 15, 2016, primary election and the Nov. 8 general election.

The charges are fifth- degree felonies, and each could result in six to 12 months in prison.

County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains and Assistant Prosecutor Lynette Stratford said the case was investigated by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Gains said Mouzos faces the charges because he is not a citizen of the United States and a person who is not a citizen of the United States cannot vote.

Thomas McCabe, deputy director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, said Mouzos’ name was one of three the Secretary of State asked the board to forward to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office.

Local boards of election are unable to determine whether those registering are citizens, McCabe said, which is why the case originated with the secretary of state.

“If someone registers to vote who’s not a citizen, we can’t pick up on that as long as they have a valid driver’s license,” he said.

Stratford said Mouzos has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and has worked and paid taxes. His green card expired, and he did not renew it.

Gains said it was the secretary of state’s office that first received evidence that Mouzos may have voted illegally, then they turned the case over to BCI to investigate.

While Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a commission on voter fraud in May, studies have consistently found the numbers to be low.

A report published by the Brennan Center for Justice in 2007 said “there have been a handful of substantiated cases of individual ineligible voters attempting to defraud the election system. But by any measure, voter fraud is extraordinarily rare.”