{"id":5775,"date":"2026-04-19T01:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5775"},"modified":"2026-04-19T01:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:36:55","slug":"california-woman-charged-after-registering-dog-to-vote-says-it-was-a-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5775","title":{"rendered":"California woman charged after registering dog to vote says it was a test"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A California woman who registered her dog to vote as a stunt to expose election loopholes says the move backfired \u2014\u00a0landing her with several felony charges after her repeated attempts to bring it to the attention of authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Laura Yourex registered her Boxer, Maya, to vote during the 2020 election to expose potential vulnerabilities in the state\u2019s voter registration system, a weakness critics have long warned about but say has gone largely unaddressed.<\/p>\n<p>But what she thought would spark reform instead turned into a nightmare that saw her charged with voter fraud.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Laura Yourex registered her dog, Maya, (right) to vote in 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf somebody had looked at it, if somebody did something about it\u2026 but nobody cares,\u201d Yourex told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>The Orange County woman said she carried out the stunt after receiving six voter registration cards at her Costa Mesa home, despite having only two eligible voters living there.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s really what kind of set me off, we have two people living in this house \u2014 my husband and I \u2014 and we got six cards to register to vote,\u201d she said. \u201cI was like, well, that\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So Yourex decided to \u201ctest\u201d the system by seeing if her dog could register and and get sent a ballot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at the actual form that I sent in, it\u2019s literally a made-up name, made-up birthday, no Social Security number at all,\u201d Yourex said. \u201cThe only thing that was real on it was my address.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Maya the dog\u2019s vote-by-mail ballot, included the envelope addressed to her, and her dog tag.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Weeks later, Maya received a mail-in ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Yourex said she immediately contacted the Orange County Registrar of Voters to report what had happened, but claims no one responded.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Cali - Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia&#8217;s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>She said she repeatedly tried to alert officials between 2020 and 2025, even reaching out to former Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates through a friend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve given my picture of Maya and her ballot, and given my phone number, and would never hear from anybody,\u201d Yourex explained.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Boxer \u2018Maya\u2019 dog with an \u2018I Voted\u2019 sticker on its chest. <span class=\"credit\">Laura Yourex<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not something I just gave up on, I kept trying to get someone to pay attention to it. It\u2019s not like they finally discovered it, it\u2019s that I kept pushing until somebody paid attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When investigators finally contacted her in August 2025, she thought action was finally being taken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember the first words out of my mouth when she said, \u2018Hi, we\u2019re looking into your dog being registered to vote.\u2019 Literally, the first words out of my mouth were: \u2018Thank God, finally, someone\u2019s looking into this,\u2019\u201d Yourex said.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>California Post News<\/strong>: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn<br \/><strong>California Post Sports<\/strong> Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X<br \/><strong>California Post  <\/strong>Opinion <br \/><strong>California Post Newsletters<\/strong>: Sign up here!<br \/><strong>California Post App<\/strong>: Download here!<br \/><strong>Home delivery<\/strong>: Sign up here!<br \/><strong>Page Six Hollywood<\/strong>: Sign up here!<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<p>Instead, prosecutors hit her five charges, including a felony count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, two felony counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, and a felony count of registering a non-existent person to vote.<\/p>\n<p>Orange County officials said Maya was not not only registered to vote \u2014 but to cast ballots in the 2021 gubernatorial recall and the 2022 primary, though the latter was challenged and rejected.<\/p>\n<p>On April 10, four of felony charges were dismissed while the remaining count of registering a nonexistent person was reduced to a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Orange County officials said Maya was not not only registered to vote \u2014 but to cast ballots in the 2021 gubernatorial recall and the 2022 primary. <span class=\"credit\">David Buchan for New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI really don\u2019t feel like anybody wanted to do anything about it, but because of the way I went about bringing it to their attention, I don\u2019t think they had a choice,\u201d Yourex said.<\/p>\n<p>Her sentencing is scheduled for October.<\/p>\n<p>The case now sits at the center of a broader political battle over election security in California.<\/p>\n<p>Under current state law, voters are not required to show ID when casting a ballot. Identification is typically provided at the registration stage, while mail-in ballots rely on signature verification rather than photo ID.<\/p>\n<p>A proposed statewide voter ID initiative, backed by Republican lawmakers, would require photo ID for in-person voting and additional identifying information for mail-in ballots. Organizers say they have gathered more than 1.3 million signatures to qualify the measure for the 2026 ballot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is fraud going on, you know, it may be small, but it doesn\u2019t take a lot of votes to change the outcome of an election,\u201d Riverside County Rep. Ken Calvert told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a radical idea, Americans use an ID every day of their life. This is something that just makes common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A proposed statewide voter ID initiative, backed by Republican lawmakers, would require photo ID for in-person voting and additional identifying information for mail-in ballots.  <span class=\"credit\">Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While election experts broadly agree voter fraud in the U.S. is rare, the issue has become a touchstone point for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>Influencer Nick Shirley has drawn attention to voter fraud in California with viral videos claiming registrations are linked to everything from UPS stores to vacant buildings.<\/p>\n<p>Yourex, who supports voter ID requirements, said she still believes in the system \u2014 but thinks it needs a review.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe system itself, I think, is a good system but I think it just needs to have tighter regulations,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cseems like these officials are looking the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t stop what you don\u2019t look for, right?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>For her part, Yourex says she\u2019s done trying to force change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t change it, so I\u2019m not going to think about it,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t spend a lot of time trying to think about things I don\u2019t understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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