Costa Mesa Woman Charged with Five Felonies for Illegally Registering Her Dog to Vote, Casting Mail-in Ballots Sent to D [View all]

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Costa Mesa Woman Charged with Five Felonies for Illegally Registering Her Dog to Vote, Casting Mail-in Ballots Sent to Dog in Two Elections - Orange County District Attorney https://orangecountyda.org/press/costa-mesa-woman-charged-with-five-felonies-for-illegally-registering-her-dog-to-vote-casting-mail-in-ballots-sent-to-dog-in-two-elections/


Costa Mesa Woman Charged with Five Felonies for Illegally Registering Her Dog to
Vote,
Casting Mail-in Ballots Sent to Dog in Two Elections
Canine’s vote in California’s 2021 gubernatorial recall election was successfully counted; 2022 primary election ballot was rejected.

Santa Ana – A Costa Mesa woman has been charged with five felonies for illegally registering her dog to vote and casting ballots in her dog’s name in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election and the 2022 primary election. The dog’s vote was successfully counted in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election but was rejected in the 2022 primary.

Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, has been charged with one felony count of perjury, one felony count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, two felony counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, and one felony count of registering a non-existent person to vote. Yourex is scheduled to be arraigned at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center in Westminster on September 9, 2025, in Department W12. She faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

On October 28, 2024, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office was contacted by the Orange County Registrar of Voter’s Office about a resident who self-reported that she had registered her dog to vote and had in fact cast a mail-in ballot she received addressed to her dog, Maya Jean Yourex, for the 2021 gubernatorial recall election and the 2022 primary election.

Following an investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, sufficient evidence was discovered to file criminal charges against Yourex for illegally registering her dog to vote and then casting mail-in ballots issued to her dog based on the fraudulent voter registration. On her social media, Yourex posted in January 2022 a picture of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker and posing with her ballot. Another post from October 2024, showed a photograph of Maya’s dog tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption “maya is still getting her ballot” even though the dog had previously passed away.