Woman arrested for voter fraud pleads to lesser charge

Roxanne Rubin just wanted to test the voting system.

And the system worked.

On Thursday, Rubin's test cost her a $2,481 to reimburse for investigation costs, 100 hours of community service, time at an impulse control class and requires she stay out of trouble.

The Henderson woman took a deal from state prosecutors that will allow her to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to vote twice if she completes the requirements set by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis within six months.

Rubin, 56, was accused of felony voter fraud after she tried to vote twice in the November presidential election.

And Secretary of State Ross Miller continued his call for upgrades to the state's voting system that would include a photographic identification system.

"If Ms. Rubin was trying to demonstrate how easy it is to commit voter fraud, she clearly failed and proved just the opposite," Miller said.

"That does not, however, mean that there is no need for vigilance and enhancements to the existing system. Our existing safeguards work, but when we have the opportunity to further strengthen the security of our system, without disenfranchising any voters, we should do so."

Rubin voted at the Anthem Community Center in Henderson. Later that day, she appeared at a Las Vegas polling station at 9725 S. Eastern Ave., and attempted to vote a second time.

A records search showed she already voted, but Rubin insisted she had not and should be allowed to cast a ballot. Poll workers did not allow it.

Rubin's lawyer, Ozzie Fumo, said his client was bothered that poll workers did not check her identification, so she tried to vote again to prove a point.

"She had zero intention of voting twice," Fumo said.

Rubin, a registered Republican, was arrested on the last day of early voting in Nevada, four days before Election Day.

She was surprised by state and federal agents and a throng of media as she showed up for work at the Riviera.

Rubin did not return a phone message asking for comment.

A status check was set in the case for April 24.

Meanwhile, Miller has submitted an election modernization bill to the state Legislature aimed at updating the current paper signature system to an electronic poll-book that would include photographs of registered voters.

The law would prevent ineligible voters from impersonating someone at polling places, he has said.

Election officials would be allow to import photos of eligible voters from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles database of drivers' licenses and state identification cards into an electronic poll book under the law.

The election and DMV systems already have been linked, allowing online voter registration in every Nevada county.

When a photo of an eligible voter isn't in the DMV database, a poll worker can take the person's photograph at no cost to the voter, who could sign an affidavit to verify his or her identity.

Some legislators have been skeptical of the plan and its costs.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.