New Hampshire Man Pleads Guilty To Vote Fraud In 2016 Election

CONCORD, NH — An elderly Lebanon man has pleaded guilty to felony wrongful voting for voting twice in the city during the 2016 general election, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

Vincent Marzello, 65, of Lebanon voted on Nov. 8, 2016, once as himself and then, a second time, under the name of "Helen Elisabeth Ashley."

Marzello pleaded guilty on Wednesday. He was sentenced to 90 days in prison. The prison time, however, was suspended for a period of two years. Marzello was also fined 10 percent of the civil penalty of $3,000 with the remaining funds suspended for five years.

The suspension of the sentencing and fine are pending good behavior.

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"As a consequence of Mr. Marzello’s election law conviction and pursuant to Part I, Article 11 of the New Hampshire Constitution, his right to vote in New Hampshire is terminated," Kate Giaquinto, the director of communications for the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, said.

Marzello was arrested in September 2020 after an investigation by New Hampshire State Police and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office that began in 2018. For some unknown reason, after gathering evidence proving his guilt, the investigation against Marzello stalled.

It came back to light after Project Veritas, an investigatory group that has been tracking voter fraud in New Hampshire, began inquiring why action had not been taken in the case. The org also had information on Marzello — and approached the attorney general's office about why it was not being prosecuted. Not long after the meeting with Project Veritas, Marzello was arrested.

Marzello was also signed up to be inspector of election for the 2020 primary and general election for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. The party, upon finding out about the double-voting investigation, suspended his appointment.

This is just one of several recent vote fraud arrests and prosecutions in New Hampshire.

Michael Lasean Lewis of Atlanta, Georgia, was arrested in October 2020 and accused of voting in Hooksett in the 2016 general election. Evidence about Lewis was given to investigators by Ed Naile, a conservative Democrat and state activist who has been tracking vote fraud in New Hampshire for close to two decades.

Mary Kate Lowndes, a Peace Corps director from Washington, D.C., was indicted in September 2020, accused of registering to vote at a shopping center in Derry in 2016 and voting in 2018.

Douglas Carl Smith Jr., a career criminal from Warner, was sentenced in December 2020 to 5 to 10 years in prison for rape, firearm, as well as voter fraud charges, too.

Spencer McKinnon, a UNH student, was also charged in 2018 with double voting during the 2016 election, in both Durham and Dracut, MA. He was convicted in February 2019.

Robert Bell of Atkinson, who also admitted to Project Veritas on camera that he had voted twice, in New Hampshire and Florida, for the 2018 general election, was convicted in Rockingham County Superior Court in October 2019.

Grace and John Fleming of Hampton voted twice during the 2016 election from both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. They were convicted in December 2019.

Todd Krysiak of Alton was arrested in June 2019, accused of voting during the 2016 general election in both New Hampshire and Leominster, MA.

Lorin C. Schneider Jr., another Massachusetts resident, pleaded guilty to three counts of voter fraud in June 2014, illegally voting in the New Hampshire presidential primary from a Manchester apartment in 2008 and 2012.

Derek Castonguay pled guilty to voter fraud in Salem District Court in January 2016. During the general election in November 2014, while being a resident of Manchester, Castonguay voted in the towns of Salem and Windham using addresses where he previously resided. Nancy Sullivan of Windham was also caught illegally voting for her son in the 2014 election and was fined civilly. These fraud cases were caught by the Windham Supervisors of the Checklist.

Windham is at the center of another controversy: The bizarre and massive discrepancy in vote totals after the Rockingham District 7 state representative's race was recounted that led to the discovery that AccuVote optical scanning machines had shorted between 297 and 303 votes of four Republican candidates while also giving a Democrat, who placed fifth, 99 more votes than were cast for her, and then, shorting three other Democrats of between 18 and 28 votes.

Back in August 2020, nearly half of close to 500 recipients of a poll said they did not believe the election, especially when it came to mail-in voting, would be free of fraud.

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