A Racine man will appear in court next month to face charges that he falsified names on petitions to recall state Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). 59-year-old Mark Demet is scheduled for an initial appearance on March 12th to face two counts of election fraud and seven counts of personal identification theft.
According to court documents, Demet admitted to investigators he signed the names of seven people on two petition pages, including a person who had died. Then, as the circulator, signed the petitions himself to testify to the accuracy of the information.
The investigation of Demet started after a man found the name of a friend appeared on the petitions four times. The charges against Demet carry a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison and $90,000 dollars in fines.
Janet Hoff, WRJN