Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows may have committed voter fraud in North Carolina


Mark Meadows, who quit his North Carolina congressional seat to become former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff in March 2020, registered to vote for the 2020 election using the address of a rural North Carolina mobile home he never lived in and, according to its former owner, never slept at, North Carolina's WRAL reported Monday night. Meadows voted by mail from Alexandria, Virginia, in 2020, but he is still registered at the rental home in Scaly Mountain.
Registering using a residence you have never stayed at constitutes voter fraud in North Carolina and providing false information on your voter registration form is a federal crime, The New Yorker reports. North Carolina's registration form tells voters they must list the place "where you physically live," and notes it is a Class I felony to "fraudulently or falsely" complete the form, WRAL adds. Class I felonies can result in prison sentences of up to 12 months.
Meadows was a prominent critic of mail-in voting in 2020 and a vocal proponent of Trump's false post-election voter fraud claims.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The owner who rented the vacation home to Meadows' wife, Debbie Reynolds, in 2020 told WRAL that Mark Meadows "never spent a night down there" and Debbie Reynolds only stayed for a night or two. The neighbor in Scaly Mountain, a friend of the Meadows and a Trump supporter, verified that information to The New Yorker.
The current owner, a Lowe's manager named Ken Abele, told The New Yorker it's "really weird" Meadows would list the property as his place of residence for election purposes, or even rent the house in the first place. "I've made a lot of improvements" since buying the mobile home in August 2021, he said. "But when I got it, it was not the kind of place you'd think the chief of staff of the president would be staying."
Meadows did not respond to request for comment from either The New Yorker or WRAL. The couple now owns a $1.6 million lakefront estate in South Carolina, and they will presumably update their voter registration forms to reflect that.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
July 6 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include paying for school lunch by enlisting, and the banality of evil
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful Arran
The Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
How will Trump's megabill affect you?
Today's Big Question Republicans have passed the 'big, beautiful bill' through Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
How would the Trump administration denaturalize immigrant citizens?
Today's Big Question Using civil courts lowers the burden of proof
-
'Trucking is a dangerous business'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities