NEWS

Second Fond du Lac County man charged with illegally voting while on probation

Fond du Lac Reporter

FOND DU LAC - A fifth Wisconsin voter out of roughly 3 million who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election faces charges of election fraud from a Republican prosecutor who is running for attorney general.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney's office filed the felony charge of illegally voting as a disqualified person against 40-year-old Anthony Van Egtern of Campbellsport, who was summoned to appear in court on Dec. 7. Van Egtern faces up to three and half years in prison if he is convicted of voting in the Nov. 3, 2020 election while on parole for a felony conviction.

A conviction of voter fraud also carries a $10,000 fine.

Van Egtern was on probation beginning in December 2018, after a second-offense conviction of possessing the marijuana chemical THC in Ozaukee County. He was ordered to serve two years of probation, which ended on Dec. 11, 2020.

When interviewed by detectives, Van Egtern initially denied voting in the election, then said he thought it was important to vote and the country was going to hell, the criminal complaint states.

Toney pointed out this is the second Fond du Lac County resident charged with illegally voting in the presidential election. In September, Toney's office also charged Donald Holz, 63, with illegally voting as a disqualified person. A preliminary hearing for Holz is set for 9 am. on Jan. 14.

The charge was filed after the Wisconsin Elections Commission submitted documentation indicating Holz was on probation or parole for a felony conviction and voted at the Fond du Lac Masonic Center, in the city's first ward.

The Elections Commission did the same for Van Egtern, stating in documents sent to the DA's office that he voted at Taycheedah Town Hall while he was a resident of Malone and on active probation, according to court records.

Toney said the charges alleging that a felon voted illegally does not mean that the election won by President Joe Biden was stolen. Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,600 votes.

The criminal complaint does not identify whether the person charged is a Republican or Democrat or which candidate he voted for in the presidential election.

“But elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and the integrity of our electoral process must be protected at every turn," Toney said in a statement. “We will continue to prosecute any circumstances of voter fraud, as allowed by law, in order to safeguard our electoral process and ensure the public has confidence in our elections.”

Toney is running against Adam Jarchow, a former state lawmaker and private attorney from Polk County, in the Republican primary for attorney general in 2022. The winner will face Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Contact Sharon Roznik at 920-907-7936 or sroznik@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/reporterroz/