California woman accused of registering her dog to vote

COSTA MESA, Calif. (NBC, KYMA) - A Costa Mesa, California woman is accused of registering her dog to vote in two elections, with one of those vote being counted.

The woman, a registered Republican, is now facing five felony charges.

A 2020 voter registration form, obtained by an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, for Maya Jean Yourex of Costa Mesa shows she checked off both the Democratic Party and Peace and Freedom Party as political party preferences.

However, she is a boxer breed who allegedly voted in two elections after Orange County prosecutors say her owner, 62-year-old Laura Yourex, registered her dog and cast her ballots.

Yourex's attorneys say she self-reported her alleged actions to the Registrar of Voters in October of last year.

"Laura Yourex sincerely regrets her unwise attempt to expose flaws in our state voting system intending to improve it by demonstrating that even a dog can be registered to vote," said Jaime Coulter, an attorney.

Maya has since passed away.

Her voting record shows the dog's vote in the California 2021 gubernatorial election to recall Gavin Newsom was successfully counted.

The Orange County District Attorney's office confirms the dog's vote in the 2022 primary election ballot was rejected.

Bob Page, Orange County Registrar of Voters, shared how it happened:

"When someone is registered to vote, they start by being asked what their driver's license, or Cal ID number, is and the last four of their [Social Security]. If they provide that, then the Secretary of State's Office tries to match that information for the voter with the information the DMV has. If that information does not match, that voter is then contacted to have to provide proof of ID under federal law. State law does not have that requirement in terms of flagging them."

"This is about civics and we depend on people being good actors," said Katrina Foley, Orange County Supervisor for the Fifth District.

The alleged voter fraud led Orange County supervisors to an emergency discussion this week.

"The fact that a dog can register and voted twice tells you the system is not working and it's broken," said Janet Nguyen, Orange County Supervisor for the First District.

County leaders condemning Yourex's actions and suggesting a potential solution by comparing voter registration info to animal licensing info in the future.

"If we could cross reference the addresses and the names to see is there potentially a name that could be suspicious, and then we can then say, 'Wait a minute. Let's flag this,'" Nguyen shared.

Yourex was released on her own recognizance, and her arraignment was continued until December 10.