Grandma to Accept Plea Deal for Submitting Ballots in Dog's Name

Washington state officials have a bone to pick with one grandmother who is currently in the doghouse for protesting a 2005 voter registration law.

In a plea deal, Jane Balogh is likely to get 10 hours of community service, a $250 fine and a one-year probation after her dog Duncan M. MacDonald illegally voted in three elections.

In reality, the Australian shepherd-terrier did submit voided ballots and signed his name with a paw print. But Balogh's putting her phone bill in his name and using it as proof of identity to falsely register him as a legal voter is what got her in trouble.

"I wasn't trying to do anything fraudulent. I was trying to prove that our system is flawed. So I got myself in trouble," Balogh, 66, told The Seattle Times.

Click here to read The Seattle Times story.

Balogh won't contest the misdemeanor charge, though the Army veteran said she opposes the law that she has proven is easy to break.

"I'm not going to claim to be innocent when I know I'm guilty," she said.

Prosecutor Dan Satterberg told the newspaper that his office “can't simply look the other way. They say you should let sleeping dogs lie, but you can't let voting dogs vote.”