DOJ urges court to uphold Taylor’s election fraud conviction

ST. LOUIS — Government lawyers argued that Kim Taylor’s 52-count election fraud conviction should stand because it was supported by the evidence presented at trial.

The Justice Department’s appeals lawyer also said the trial judge was correct in rejecting Taylor’s request to provide jurors with instructions that would have further defined the elements the government would have had to prove to obtain a conviction.

“The court should uphold Taylor’s convictions,” Justice Department attorney Amanda Mundell said in a brief filed Friday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and opened to the public Monday.

Taylor, the wife of Woodbury County Board of Supervisors member Jeremy Taylor, was convicted in November of 26 counts of providing false information during registration and voting, three counts of charge of fraudulent registration and 23 counts of fraudulent voting. On April 1, Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand sentenced her to four months in prison and four months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised release.

Taylor, 51, completed his prison sentence at the end of August.

In Taylor’s appeal brief filed in August, his attorney said the evidence did not support his conviction. He also argued that Strand should not have refused a defense request to include jury instructions defining the “willfully” and “knowingly” elements of Taylor’s offenses and that the government must prove she knowingly and deliberately broke the law.

Taylor asked the appeals court to overturn his conviction and acquit him or, alternatively, to set aside the verdict and order a new trial.

Oral arguments in the 8th Circuit court have not been scheduled.

Taylor was convicted of leading a scheme to garner votes from Sioux City’s Vietnamese community in support of Jeremy Taylor, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. United States in the 2020 primaries before winning County Council elections this fall.

During the six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Sioux City, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Kim Taylor, a Vietnam native who met Jeremy Taylor while teaching there, led a coordinated effort to collect hundreds of votes for her husband among the Vietnamese of Sioux City. community. Evidence showed that Kim Taylor approached numerous Vietnamese voters who had limited understanding of English and filled out and signed election forms and ballots on behalf of them and their English-speaking children. In some cases, she advised them that they could complete and sign voter registration forms, absentee ballot request forms, and their children’s ballots themselves without their consent.

Sons, daughters and a granddaughter – all born in Sioux City and speaking English – each testified that they never gave consent to have their parents fill out election forms for them, and all were unaware that ‘they had done it.

Taylor’s lawyer said she acted in good faith and was unaware that the law prohibits parents from signing voting materials on behalf of their adult child without their consent.

In denying a motion for acquittal before Taylor’s conviction, Strand ruled that the evidence was sufficient to determine that Taylor acted voluntarily and knowingly and that ignorance of the law was not an excuse for breaking it .

In its brief, the DOJ said ample evidence supported Taylor’s convictions.

The DOJ also argued that Strand properly rejected the defense’s requested jury instructions because other instructions already defined the terms “knowingly” and “willfully.” The defense was also allowed to argue in its closing statement to the jury that Taylor acted in good faith.

“In this case, the district court reasonably declined to issue Taylor’s proposed instruction because the court had adequately instructed (jurors) elsewhere and Taylor’s proposed instruction was erroneous,” the court’s brief states. government.

Woodbury County election officials became aware of possible voter fraud in September 2020, when two students at Iowa State University in Sioux City requested absentee ballots, only to learn that ballots had already been been filed on their behalf. While processing absentee ballots on election night, election workers noticed that the handwriting on several of them appeared to be similar. After the election, Woodbury County Auditor and Election Commissioner Pat Gill notified the FBI, which began an investigation. Taylor was charged and arrested in January 2022.

Jeremy Taylor was not charged, but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in his wife’s case. He will not seek re-election to the Board of Supervisors in the November election.