Patrick H. Perea

Charged, not convicted. Perea has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of fraudulent voting. The charging documents are allegations, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Introduction

Patrick H. Perea, 62, a resident of Tijeras, New Mexico, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of fraudulent voting for allegedly attempting to cast his deceased wife’s absentee ballot in the November 2024 general election . According to court documents, in October 2024 Perea submitted the ballot to the Bureau of Elections of the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office in Albuquerque, where elections officials intercepted it before it could be counted . The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced the indictment on October 9, 2026 — two years after the ballot was submitted — with First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison delivering the charging message in five words: “Dead people can’t vote” .

Background Information

The allegation at the center of the case is narrow and specific: that in October 2024, Perea completed and submitted his deceased wife’s absentee ballot for the November 2024 general election by delivering it to the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office Bureau of Elections . The Bureau of Elections intercepted the ballot before it could be counted, and the clerk’s office played what federal prosecutors called a critical role in both the interception and the investigation that followed . The case therefore never involved a counted illegal vote — the interception at the clerk’s counter is the system working as designed, and the two-year gap between the ballot submission and the indictment reflects the length of the FBI investigation that followed .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Ellison said in the announcement that “casting a ballot that belongs to someone else is a deliberate abuse of our election process and a federal crime,” and that “election integrity depends on protecting the process from fraud and ensuring that unlawful votes do not dilute the votes of legitimate voters.” He added that “if you try to vote for another person, you will be caught and we will prosecute” . If convicted, Perea faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 . The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean J. Sullivan and Emil J. Kiehne are prosecuting .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The indictment is the most quotable entry in New Mexico’s election-integrity docket — Ellison’s “Dead people can’t vote” line put a two-year-old intercepted ballot at the center of the state’s election-fraud enforcement messaging . The charging release notes the indictment is an allegation and that Perea is presumed innocent, and no public statement from Perea or a defense attorney appears in the charging materials . The case also credits the county-level infrastructure that caught it: a clerk’s office that flagged and held a ballot for a voter whose death was on record, then assisted the federal investigation for two years .

Current Status

Perea has been indicted and awaits the procedural steps that follow — an initial appearance and arraignment in the District of New Mexico had not been announced as of the October 9, 2026 charging release . The single count of fraudulent voting carries up to five years and a $250,000 fine if it results in a conviction . The ballot itself was never counted, so the underlying election was unaffected .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 62, Perea faces up to five federal years over a single intercepted absentee ballot — a case that has become New Mexico’s showcase prosecution for one category of election crime. It marks the boundary the system actually enforces: county election workers catch the mismatched ballot, the FBI takes two years to build the case, and the Justice Department turns one widower’s envelope into a federal indictment with a national-audience quote attached.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico, “Tijeras Man Indicted for Attempting to Cast Deceased Wife’s Absentee Ballot in 2024 Election,” October 9, 2026 — source