Herschel Walker’s wife voted in Georgia despite living in Texas: report
The former athlete turned businessman previously called for prosecutions of voter fraud.
The wife of ex-NFLer Herschel Walker is under fire for allegedly committing voter fraud during the presidential election last year.
Julie Blanchard reportedly cast an absentee ballot in Georgia while living in Texas, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The illegal vote will no doubt impact Walker’s political ambitions should he enter the Georgia senate race in 2022.
Walker, 59, was encouraged by his longtime friend Donald Trump to enter the race. The former athlete turned businessman previously called for prosecutions of voter fraud. Walker also promoted the unfounded claim that Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden due to election fraud.
Blanchard is receiving the side-eye from critics who want to know if she was allowed to vote in Georgia while living in Texas. Per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it is “illegal for non-residents to vote in Georgia in most circumstances.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger warned in a press release ahead of the 2020 election that individuals “who seek to interfere with democracy in Georgia should be forewarned that the consequences will be severe.”
The press release noted that a “false registration” is a felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $100K.
Inquiring minds want to know if Blanchard, who is white, will get five years in prison for voter fraud as other Texans have.
In 2018, Crystal Mason, also from Texas, was sentenced to five years for voting in the 2016 election, when Trump won. Mason had no idea she was not allowed to vote when she cast her provisional ballot due to the fact that she was on federally supervised release, as reported by theGRIO.
At a hearing in Sept. 2019, Mason attempted to appeal the case in Tarrant County but the Second District Appeals Court maintained her conviction.
“Crystal’s submitted a provisional ballot that ultimately was not counted,” said staff attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, Emma Hilbert. “Like her, thousands of voters cast provisional ballots during every federal election. Criminalizing those actions jeopardizes our democratic values and risks silencing the voices of voters across this state and nation.”
Earlier this year, Trump called on Walker to run against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), who is up for a full term in Nov. 2022. But state Republicans fear Walker will cost them a winnable seat, theGRIO reported.
Walker was a football hero at the University of Georgia before his long NFL career. He’s a business owner whose chicken products are distributed across the U.S. And he’s a Black conservative with backing from Trump.
Trump said it would be “fantastic” if Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia.
“He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL,” Trump said in a statement, per The Hill. “He is also a GREAT person. Run, Herschel, run!”
Texas Sen. John Cornyn has expressed skepticism about a Walker candidacy.
“All I know is what I read in the paper,” Cornyn said Wednesday. “I want to win that race, and so I want the best nominee. I don’t know whether he’s it.”
Georgia Republican Eric Tanenblatt told CNN that while “there’s a lot of excitement among some in the base” about Walker, there’s also “a lot of unknowns” about him.
“I think in the last couple of weeks, there have been some things reported in the media that have caused people to take pause,” Tanenblatt said.
According to the report, three prominent Georgia political consultants — Nick Ayers, Austin Chambers, and Paul Bennecke — met with Walker this summer but all declined to work on his Senate campaign.
This story contains additional reporting from Keydra Manns.
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