Woman admits voting for late husband: Says she knew he wanted to vote Trump Says she knew he wanted to vote Trump

John Badman|The Telegraph Early voters crowd the booths at the Alton Law Enforcement Center Tuesday to cast their ballots. Voter turnout has been very high compared with previous years. John Badman|The Telegraph Early voters crowd the booths at the Alton Law Enforcement Center Tuesday to cast their ballots. Voter turnout has been very high compared with previous years. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Woman admits voting for late husband: Says she knew he wanted to vote Trump 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

ALTON — An Alton Republican election judge said Friday she has no regrets about voting for Donald Trump on behalf of her dead husband — and added that the cemeteries in Chicago should be investigated for similar activity.

Audrey R. Cook, 88, of the 500 block of Beacon Street, was charged with election code perjury and violation of the election code: violation of the vote by mail ballot provision. Both are Class 3 felonies.

“Now they should investigate all the cemeteries in Chicago,” said Cook. She said she does not feel she did anything wrong, and only voted as her late husband would have, had he survived.

She told authorities she voted for Donald Trump for president on behalf of her husband, the late Virtus “Vic” Cook, a computer consultant who once worked under a contract for the city of Alton.

The couple served as election judges for many years together.

“My husband was very sick, and we applied for absentee ballots for both of us,” she said. “We got them a couple of days after he died, and I knew how he wanted to vote.”

She cast the vote on Sept. 30.

“He was a decent, honest and wonderful man,” she said. “I knew what he wanted… Now they’re not going to count it.” Vic Cook was a computer consultant and, at one time, worked under contract to the city of Alton.

The charges allege Audrey Cook made a false statement in a certificate required under the election in that she forged the signature of her husband. She was also accused of knowingly taking a vote by bail ballot of another person by marking the ballot when she knew her husband was dead.

The case was investigated by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, which took her before Associate Judge Neil Schroeder, who released her on $20,000 recognizance bond.

Audrey Cook and her husband have long been active in Republican politics and conservative causes. They were frequent critics of the Alton Housing Authority’s operations.

State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said the case came to light as a result of a routine check by a group of Democratic and Republican election judges working the the Madison County Clerk’s Office.

He said those people routinely check the names on bail-in and absentee ballots against death records and found Vic Cook’s name.

Once the irregularity was spotted, the case was turned over to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office. Assistant State’s Attorney John McGuire, who handles civil cases for the county, investigated and brought the charges.

Trump’s campaign has been warning voters to beware of fraud, and some Democrats have expressed concern that voters may become intimidated by Trump poll watchers.

As his election chances faltered, Trump recently repeatedly claimed the election is “rigged” and said his supporters should visit polling places to ensure integrity within the election.

Elections officials from both parties, as well as independent experts, say that election fraud is very rare, and to the extent that it does happen, it occurs on a scale much too small to influence a national election.