L.A. County man accused of voting in three elections as his dead mother

Richard Winton
·1 min read
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 5, 2016 - Eleanor Roosevelt rests below voting booths as people cast their votes at the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Operations in Venice on November 5, 2016. Attention Editor: That is the dog's name. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A dog rests beneath a row of voting booths in a Los Angeles County election. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A Norwalk man is facing voter fraud charges after prosecutors say he cast ballots in several elections using the name of his mother, who had died years earlier.

Caesar Peter Abutin, 55, pretended to be his mother in three elections between October 2012 and November 2014, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Tuesday.

In each of the elections, Abutin claimed to be his 67-year-old mother, who had died in July 2006, prosecutors said. Abutin also cast votes using his own identity.

Such voter fraud charges are rarely filed in L.A. County and often are hard to prove, but officials said Abutin's repeated pattern of voting using a long-deceased relative's ID raised alarm bells. The deceptive practice was discovered after an investigation by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and the district attorney's office.

Abutin was charged last month with one felony count each of fraud in connection with votes cast and fraudulent voting. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday and is scheduled to return for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 28.

If convicted, Abutin faces up to three years in state prison.