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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
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.
-
Make mine a soju and tonic: the rise of Korea's favourite spirit
The Week Recommends The rice-based drink can replace gin or vodka in traditional cocktails for a refreshing twist on the classics
-
The full moon calendar for every month
In depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
-
The end of WeightWatchers
Talking Point The diet brand has filed for bankruptcy in the US as it struggles to survive in era of weight-loss jabs
-
The fertility crisis: can Trump make America breed again?
Talking Point The self-styled 'fertilisation president', has been soliciting ideas on how to get Americans to have more babies
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
'Art is one of humanity's great empathic mediums'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can Trump's team make the MAGA playbook work for Albania's elections?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The architects of the president's 2024 victory are looking east to extend their populist reach
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Carney and Trump come face-to-face as bilateral tensions mount
IN THE SPOTLIGHT For his first sit-down with an unpredictable frenemy, the Canadian prime minister elected on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment tried for an awkward detente