Jeffrey Pope

Introduction

Jeffrey Pope, 65, of Apollo, Pennsylvania, is a registered Pennsylvania voter who was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for voting twice in the November 2024 general election — once in Alaska and once in Pennsylvania, including for the office of President of the United States. The two-count indictment, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania on August 14, 2026, names Pope as the sole defendant and alleges that within four days in October 2024 he completed and submitted mail-in ballots in both states, then signed a false declaration on his Pennsylvania ballot swearing he had not already voted. The FBI conducted the investigation that led to the charges.

Background Information

Pope had been registered to vote in Pennsylvania since 1999, but purchased property in Alaska in 2023 — the fact pattern from which the dual-ballot allegations arise. Voting more than once in a federal election violates federal law, and so does the false declaration that accompanies an absentee or mail-in ballot: each state’s form requires the voter to swear under penalty of law that he or she is qualified to vote by that ballot and has not already voted in the election. Pope’s indictment pairs those two theories in two counts. The maximum total sentence the charges carry is ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, with the actual sentence to be determined under the federal Sentencing Guidelines based on the seriousness of the offenses and any prior criminal history.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Pope faces an indictment alleging double voting in the 2024 presidential election. An indictment is an accusation, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

According to the indictment, on or about October 18, 2024, Pope completed and submitted a mail-in ballot casting a vote for the office of President in Alaska. Four days later, on or about October 22, 2024, he completed and submitted a mail-in ballot casting a vote for the same federal office in Pennsylvania. As part of the Pennsylvania submission, the indictment alleges, Pope knowingly and willfully signed a false declaration stating that he was qualified to vote by the enclosed ballot and had not already voted in the election. The two ballots, if proven, would mean the same man voted for President in two states in the same election — the exact scenario dual-registration safeguards are supposed to catch.

The charges arrived twenty-two months after the ballots themselves, the product of an FBI investigation that ended in a two-count indictment naming Pope as the sole defendant. The release does not state how the double voting was detected — whether by an interstate voter-crossmatch, a state election audit, or a referral from either state — or whether either ballot was counted before the investigation began. It also does not state whether Pope has been arrested or summoned to appear, whether he has entered a plea, or whether the 2024 election result in any race affected by his ballots has been called into question.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The documented reaction is institutional: United States Attorney Troy Rivetti’s announcement, the FBI’s investigation credit, and the assignment of Assistant United States Attorney Nicole A. Stockey to the prosecution. The release contains no statement from Pope or his attorney and no comment from either state’s election officials. The consequences so far are the indictment itself and the ten-year statutory exposure across the two counts. Because Pope is charged rather than convicted, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he both voted in Alaska and voted in Pennsylvania knowing he had already done so — the false-declaration count resting on the signature he placed on the Pennsylvania form.

Current Status

Pope’s case stands at the indictment stage in the Western District of Pennsylvania as of the August 14, 2026 announcement. The release does not state an arraignment date, a plea, a trial date, or whether Pope remains in Pennsylvania or Alaska. Neither count carries a documented conviction, and the case file records no arrest. The two ballots at issue — Alaska’s on October 18, 2024 and Pennsylvania’s on October 22, 2024 — remain the entirety of the alleged conduct, twenty-two months old when charged.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 65, Pope now carries a federal indictment for election crimes — an accusation that, if proven, would attach a felony record, up to ten years of imprisonment, and the permanent loss of voting credibility that a double-voting conviction carries in both states involved. The case is also a documented instance of the 2024 election’s long tail: a ballot cast in Apollo, Pennsylvania, matching one cast the same week through an Alaska mail-in envelope, reconstructed by FBI investigation into a two-count indictment two election cycles later. The release records nothing about Pope’s occupation, family, or circumstances beyond his age, his Apollo residence, his 1999 Pennsylvania registration, and the 2023 Alaska property purchase that bridged the two ballots.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania, “Apollo Man Charged with Casting Multiple Votes in 2024 Presidential Election”, August 14, 2026 — source