MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A Manatee County man is being accused of voter fraud after authorities say he requested a mail-in ballot for his wife, who died two years ago.
Larry Wiggins, 62, was arrested and charged with requesting a vote-by-mail ballot on behalf of another elector, a third-degree felony.
8 On Your Side spoke exclusively with Mr. Wiggins after he was released from Manatee County Jail.
According to an arrest report, election officials received two absentee ballot applications from a husband and wife at the same address. Deputies said the signature on the woman’s application did not match the handwriting on her original voter registration documents.
Election officials notified deputies who confirmed the woman had died in 2018.
Wiggins, her husband, was interviewed by deputies, and admitted to requesting the ballot on her behalf, saying he was “testing the system to see if it worked,” authorities said.
Wiggins was arrested at his home without incident and booked into a Manatee County Jail.
The case is now in the hands of the state attorney’s office.
