East Liverpool woman in court for false voter registrations - WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

An East Liverpool woman appeared in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to answer to more than 30 charges of voter registration fraud.

Thirty-three-year old Rebecca Hammonds was named in a secret indictment following an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

Authorities say Hammonds was working as a paid canvasser for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a group that was active in voter registration in the fall of 2015. 

The board of elections says that many of the registrations submitted by Hammonds started turning up red flags.

 "It was fraud. It was dozens of forms where people that were deceased or just forged flat out. They signed their name and it wasn't even the voter, the wrong date of birth, wrong streets," said Adam Booth, Columbiana County Elections Director.

Booth says the fraud was uncovered because they cross-check every registration for the proper identifiers. "Yes, we take the precautions and double check to make sure that all the information matches up, from their first name, middle name, last name , to all the identifiers," Booth said.

Hammonds entered a not guilty plea to 32 charges and remains free on bond pending a pre-trial hearing. She offered no comment upon leaving court. Voter registration fraud is a felony and carries a possible maximum sentence of one year in prison on each charge.