Man sentenced for using dead mother’s name to vote for Trump

Bruce Bartman, a Pennsylvania man who used his dead mother’s name to cast a vote for ex-President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, has been sentenced to five years of probation.

Bartman was sentenced by the court after pleading guilty to two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting.

He was also barred from voting for four years.

According to CNN, 70-year-old Bartman was accused of registering Elizabeth Bartman — his late mother — and Elizabeth Weihman, — his deceased mother-in-law — on the Pennsylvania voter registration portal as Republican voters.

Bartman, thereafter, sent in the absentee ballot for his deceased mother during the election.

Following the judgment, Samuel Stretton, Bartman’s attorney, reportedly said his client’s action was “a misguided political mistake” and that he regrets the decision.

Bartman had reportedly explained to the court that he had been isolated at home owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and that he was misled by “propaganda and statements” that were made about voter fraud.

“This was his way of misguided political dissent. He accepts the responsibility.” Stretton was quoted to have said.

Joe Biden was declared president after polling more than 270 electoral votes, the threshold needed to win.

But Trump had alleged that he won the election by a wide margin, claiming the exercise was characterised by fraud.

The former US president had filed a series of lawsuits to challenge the outcome of the election but his claims were thrown out.

His supporters had also invaded Capitol Hill to protest the confirmation of Biden’s victory by the US congress.

After the protest and backlash, he finally agreed to hand over to Biden after congress ratified the president-elect’s victory in the election.