LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas businessman is facing criminal charges of voting twice in the November 2020 election, including with his dead wife’s ballot, Nevada state Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Thursday.
Donald “Kirk” Hartle, 55, faces two felony charges in a criminal complaint filed Oct. 6 and made public Thursday, three days after Hartle’s initial appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court, according to court records. He is due again in court Nov. 18.
“Mr. Hartle looks forward to responding to the allegations,” his attorney, David Chesnoff, said Thursday.
Hartle is the only person currently being prosecuted on allegations of voter fraud in Nevada, said John Sadler, spokesman for the attorney general.
The November election saw now-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeat Republican President Donald Trump. Biden won in Nevada by 33,596 of 1.4 million votes cast, or about 2.4%.
State and federal courts in Nevada and other states rejected dozens of election challenges by Republicans and Trump’s presidential campaign, including claims of widespread voter fraud.
Sadler didn’t immediately respond to a question about the timing of Thursday’s announcement, which included quotes from Ford calling voter fraud “rare,” saying “it undercuts trust in our election system” and vowing that it “will not be tolerated by my office.”
