Mar 21, 2008 8:58 pm US/Pacific
Man Arrested For State Voter Registration Fraud
Reporting
Ron Jones
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
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Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
A man suspected of state voter registration fraud was arrested on Sac State's campus. Accused of signing up fake people to vote!
Why would there be a manhunt by the election fraud unit of the Secretary of State for this mystery guy, 45-year-old Don Cornell Williams.
He's known by state officials for registering voters in Southern California.
"That's what he does for a living," says Corey, a friend of the suspect.
For the past six months he's been hanging out here in this modest home in North Highlands with his new friend Corey and others.
Corey doesn't know much about Williams' past, but says he's good at what he does.
"What he does a living is he's one of those people that set up a table and gets paid for people signing petitions and he also gets people to register to vote," explains Corey.
Corey says some unknown organization pays Williams to get signatures. He says Williams told him gets cash for every signature or registered voter card he turns in. Yesterday the state election fraud unit got a tip Williams was at Sac State trying to register more people. They asked campus police to capture him on a warrant out of Orange County for completing voter registration cards using false names.
On most college campuses there's always community activists soliciting people to support their cause.
"People from their families, their friends, their particular church, their student group. So it's based on trust," explains Melody Gonzalez.
These petitions usually aren't regulated or verified by the state. But in Williams' case, what he does can affect presidential campaigns or major state propositions. So whatever happened in Orange County forced state officials to hunt him down in Sacramento.
State officials weren't available for comment. However, we have learned Williams is being held on $20,000 bail and one law enforcement official told me he may be transported to Orange County to face a judge.
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