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Madison — An aide to a Republican lawmaker has been charged with two felony counts of voting illegally — a move that comes as GOP legislators decide whether to further tighten voting rules.

Marcie R. Malszycki, who serves as an aide to Rep. Warren Petryk (R-Eleva), was charged Monday in Dane County Court with voting from an Onalaska polling place while living in Madison. The charges stem from the 2008 and 2010 elections, meaning she is being prosecuted more than three years after the most recent incident.

Malszycki did not return a call and email message Wednesday and her attorney, Steve Kohn of Milwaukee, declined to discuss the substance of the case.

Petryk issued a short statement noting the incidents occurred before Malszycki worked for him. His statement called her "a valuable and excellent employee."

Malszycki, 33, goes by her married name of Rainbolt in the Capitol. It was not clear why she was charged under her maiden name.

According to the criminal complaint, a man contacted the La Crosse County district attorney's office in May 2011 questioning whether Malszycki had voted illegally in November 2010 because she had posted on Facebook that she voted from Onalaska.

Malszycki told police she had been temporarily staying in the area while she worked on a campaign. She said she went to the polls in Onalaska with her mother, explained her situation to the poll worker and asked if there was any way she could vote from there.

According to Malszycki, the poll worker said the only way she could vote from the Onalaska polling place was if her mother signed a registration form saying Malszycki had been living at the mother's address. Her mother signed the form.

Prosecutors contend Malszycki did not meet residency requirements and was ineligible to vote from that location.

Records show Malszycki also voted from Onalaska in 2008, according to the complaint.

La Crosse County authorities forwarded their findings to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne's office, which then issued the felony charges Monday. Ozanne, a Democrat running for attorney general, drew statewide attention three years ago when he took court action to try to block limits on collective bargaining approved by Republicans.

Ozanne declined to discuss the merits of the case Wednesday. Asked why charges were filed nearly two years after authorities were made aware of the allegation, Ozanne said election cases sometimes require additional investigation.

"We charge when we're ready to charge," he said.

The Wisconsin State Journal first reported on the charges.

Longtime GOP aide

Malszycki, who makes $60,745 a year, has worked in the Capitol offices of Republican lawmakers off and on since 2004, state records show. Besides Petryk, she has worked for former Sen. Carol Roessler of Oshkosh; former Rep. Carol Owens of Oshkosh; Rep. Dean Kaufert of Neenah; former Rep. Mike Huebsch of West Salem; and former Rep. Phil Montgomery of Ashwaubenon.

She was on leave from Kaufert's office at the time of the 2008 election and on leave from Montgomery's office at the time of the 2010 election. Montgomery is now chairman of the state Public Service Commission.

The situation emerges as Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature decide whether they want to pass laws in hopes of reviving the state's voter ID requirement and limiting early voting hours.

The Assembly passed those measures in November, but so far the Senate hasn't decided whether to go along with them.

Republicans in recent years have complained about voter fraud, saying Wisconsin's laws need to be toughened so prosecutors can be more aggressive. Democrats have contended the GOP ideas go too far and disrupt people's right to vote.

Twitter: twitter.com/patrickdmarley