Margaret Schneider is 86 years old and acknowledges that dementia makes her forget some things. But she never imagined that being forgetful would get her slapped with a felony count.
The St. Peter, Minn., woman, who also suffers from Parkinson's disease, has been charged with voter fraud after accidentally voting twice in the 2012 primary election. She first learned about the mistake when a "nice" city detective knocked on her door to inform her about her votes, she said in a phone interview Thursday. Then came the notice from the Nicollet County attorney's office telling her to be in court April 2 to answer the felony charge.
Schneider, a plain-spoken woman who takes pride in the fact that she's been "voting as long as I can remember," was shocked. But after the detective talked to her, she doesn't dispute the facts.
"It was my mistake," she said. "I'm heartsickened by it."
It all came about because Schneider thought her polling place was still at the St. Peter Armory on the other side of the town of about 11,000 people 70 miles southwest of the Twin Cities. She didn't think she could find a ride to the armory on the August primary day, so Schneider voted in July by absentee ballot. "It was the first time I have ever voted by absentee," she said.
What she didn't know at the time was that her polling place was actually at the community center a half-block from her apartment.
"She's a very independent woman, and she has a hard time asking for help," said her eldest daughter, Eva Moore, who said she would have been happy to give her mother a ride to the polling place.
Schneider is a woman who has raised five children and worked hard all her life. "I've waitressed, been a cook, made beds and taken care of lots of children baby-sitting them," she said. And she always votes. "I want to have my say and then be able to argue with people afterwards," she said.
