GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) – Two women are behind bars in Mesa County today, accused of stealing Mesa County ballots, altering them and fraudulently submitting them to be counted.

Sally Jane Smith, 59, and Vicki Lyn Stuart, 64, are charged with identity theft, attempting to influence a public official and forgery for their part in an alleged scheme to “test” the voting signature system. Ballots used in the election, according to the arrest affidavit. Their goal, according to the affidavit, was to see if forged signatures would be caught during the verification process.

The documents state that victims are still being tracked and verified, but the alleged scheme may have had 20 or more victims.

The two women were followed because many allegedly fraudulent ballots were on the same mail delivery route; It has been confirmed that this route has been temporarily allocated to Stuart. The documents also stated that Stuart was interviewed by District Attorney Senior Investigator Rob Heil, where he confirmed that Stuart was the person who allegedly distributed the ballots on that route.

Investigators also found that Stuart’s GPS location showed he was at the homes of known victims on Oct. 12, the day the affected ballots were supposed to be delivered. Smith’s fingerprints were also allegedly found on a ballot deposited by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; it was a ballot he would not normally have access to because investigators determined he was never an employee of USPS or Mesa County Elections.

Arrest documents state law enforcement contacted Smith at his home. During a subsequent interview, Smith allegedly admitted to filling out ballots that did not belong to him. He initially claimed the ballots were given to him by a man working at the CBI whom he “randomly met in a parking lot,” according to the affidavit. He claimed the man asked him to help test the voting system, so Smith responded by filling out ballots in his truck and returning them to the man. “(Smith) even drew a map of where he met the CBI officer at the Mesa Mall and (he) showed where he parked,” according to the affidavit.

However, he eventually admitted to investigators that he knew Stuart and that he had not been fully honest with the investigator, with documents stating that he was trying to protect Stuart. The affidavit says Smith later admitted to investigators that he received the ballots from Stuart around the time the ballots began arriving in Grand Junction mailboxes.

Stuart was contacted by law enforcement around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning and reportedly asked, “You want to put me in jail just because I misdirected some mail?” It was reported that he meant something similar.

Mesa County Elections recently detected and successfully prevented fraudulent mail ballot attempts through our signature verification process. We immediately reported the situation to the 21st District Attorney’s Office, which led to the arrest of two individuals today.

I am deeply grateful for the District Attorney’s Office’s diligence and comprehensive efforts in handling this matter. I am proud that our security measures are effective, and we will continue to be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections.

I am committed to transparency and accountability at every step of the election process so voters in Mesa County can be confident that their votes are safe.

Stuart and Smith are currently being held in the Mesa County Detention Facility on open charges. Bond has not yet been set for either woman.

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