Mark Meadows, who as chief of staff to President Donald Trump promoted his lies of mass voter fraud, is facing increasing scrutiny about his own voter registration status.
Public records show that he is registered to vote in two states, including North Carolina, where he listed a mobile home he did not own — and may never have visited — as his legal residence weeks before casting a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
Critics contend that Meadows' voter registration status, first reported by The New Yorker, suggest the former North Carolina congressman may have committed voter fraud himself. A spokesperson for Meadows did not respond to a message seeking comment on Wednesday.
Meadows listed a mobile home in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina, as his physical address on Sept. 19, 2020, while he was serving as Trump's chief of staff in Washington. Meadows later cast an absentee ballot for the general election by mail. Trump won the battleground state by just over 1 percentage point.
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The New Yorker spoke to the former owner of the Scaly Mountain property, described as a 14-foot by 62-foot mobile home with a rusty metal roof, who indicated that Meadows does not own the home and never has. The previous owner said Meadows' wife rented the property “for two months at some point within the past few years” but only spent one or two nights there. Neighbors said Meadows was never present, The New Yorker reported.
The New Yorker story doesn’t identify the former owner’s name, saying she “asked that we not use her name.”
The North Carolina Board of Elections declined to comment on the specifics of the situation, offering only a general statement: “The State Board of Elections investigates credible allegations of violations of election laws in North Carolina. When warranted by evidence, the State Board refers cases to district attorneys or U.S. Attorney’s offices for further investigation or prosecution at their discretion.”
Meanwhile, public records show that Meadows registered to vote in Alexandria, Virginia, almost exactly one year after he registered in Scaly Mountain and just weeks before Virginia's high-profile governor's election last fall. Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Democratic-leaning state by just under 2 percentage points.
Meadows frequently raised the prospect of voter fraud before the 2020 presidential election, as polls showed Trump trailing Joe Biden, and in the months following Trump's loss to suggest Biden was not the legitimate winner. He repeated baseless claims that the election was stolen in his 2021 memoir.
A collection of judges, election officials in both parties and Trump's own attorney general has concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Experts note there are isolated incidents of intentional or unintentional violations of voter lawsin every election.
Meadows’ political critics from both parties were quick to condemn the former White House chief of staff.
“It’s almost like (Meadows) didn’t realize voting records are public records?” former Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., tweeted this week, writing that the details look “more and more damning” as Meadows stays silent.
Gary Pearce, a veteran Democratic consultant based in North Carolina, said this appears to be a case of blatant hypocrisy.
“They’ve been telling us there’s voter fraud — apparently so, it’s them,” Pearce said. “He wants to have us believe that that rusted out mobile home is his legal residence? The nerve.”
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Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Matthew Barakat in Falls Church, Va., contributed to this report.
