On Friday, the State of Alaska Department of Law announced criminal charges against three individuals including current state representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Republican of Anchorage.

LeDoux was charged with one count of voter misconduct 1, two counts of voter misconduct 2, and seven counts of second degree unlawful interference with voting. Lisa M. (Vaught) Simpson and Caden C. Vaught were also charged with similar counts.

In 2018, Ledoux, allegedly encouraged Simpson and Vaught to falsely fill out voter registration applications in House District 15 when they did not live there.

Vaught allegedly made a false statement while signing under oath on a questioned ballot in the 2018 primary election.

On August 16, 2018, the Division of Elections notified the Alaska State Troopers of irregularities in the number of applications for absentee ballots for the 2018 primary election, with a focus of irregularities on the House District 15 Republican primary.

Through investigation, troopers contacted voters in person and over the phone and worked with the FBI as well. Investigators contacted LeDoux and several people who worked on her campaign, including Simpson.

From the investigation, troopers found text messages from LeDoux encouraging people who did not live in her district to vote in the House District 15 primary and general elections in 2014 and 2018.

According to the criminal complaint, Simpson was in the process of buying a house that was in Distict 15 but registered to vote before the sale was closed, and while she still lived outside the district.

One text message from LeDoux allegedly said, “Dot, don’t worry about the legality of this… So PLEASE go on line [sic] and request a ballot.”

The Alaska State Department of Law held a press conference about the charges on Friday. This is breaking story and we will update it when more information becomes available.