Maine Democratic State Rep. Clinton Collamore was sentenced to three days in jail and 100 hours of community service after pleading not guilty to multiple charges of election fraud. Collamore forged hundreds of signatures to use taxpayer money to fund his campaign. As a result of the investigation, he was forced to repay $14,000.
He was charged after the 2022 investigation by the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices was passed to the Attorney General of Maine. Collamore was charged with 20 counts of aggravated forgery, 12 counts of unsworn falsification, and one count of criminal violation of the Maine Clean Election Act. However, the state dropped the majority of charges.
According to Commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne, “During the summer of 2022, Candidate Registrar Erin Gordon noticed a pattern in the contributor signatures on Mr. Collamore’s forms. The staff re-examined the forms and identified more than 30 contributors whose signatures did not seem genuine. Our opinion was that the candidate had signed for the contributors.”
Before he was found guilty, he returned his salary and the election funds. However, Collamore says that he simply misinterpreted the rules. He says that all the falsified signatures were simply a clerical error. He issued a brief statement along with his resignation which offers insight into his reasoning.
Collamore said, “I did not make anyone think that was the people’s signature. I did the handwriting just to identify the voters. I’m sorry I caused this by not following the rules closer,” Collamore continued. “But there’s no intent of trying to defraud anyone or anything. Makes me sick to my stomach to even think of it.”
Richard Elliot, his lawyer, said that Collamore wrote the names to identify the checks, and the donor’s signatures appear on other documents. He said, “Clearly he’s either the worst criminal on the planet, or he did not have the intent when he hands in the very signature of the party that doesn’t match the card that he has signed in his own handwriting.”
Collamore is not the only democrat to be involved in election fraud. As we reported, Michael “Ozzie” Myers was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison for federal election fraud. The Department of Justice (DOJ) says that the fraudulent actions go back to at least 2014. Myers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deprive voters of civil rights, bribery, obstruction of justice, falsification of voting records, and conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election.
The DOJ issued a statement on September 27, 2022. The Justice Department explained how, “Myers would solicit payments from his clients in the form of cash or checks as ‘consulting fees,’ and then use portions of these funds to pay election officials to tamper with election results.”
US Attorney Jacqueline Romero issued a statement on the sentencing. She said, “Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. If even one vote has been illegally cast or if the integrity of just one election official is compromised, it diminishes faith in process. This defendant used his position, knowledge of the process, and connections to fix elections for his preferred candidates, which demonstrates a truly flagrant disregard for the laws which govern our elections. He will now spend 30 months in prison as penalty for his crimes.”