A Lancaster city woman has been charged with two forgery offenses after completing a mail-in voter ballot for her deceased mother.

Cheryl Mihaliak, 60 of the 800 block of 3^rd Street, faces charges of forgery and forgery of a ballot for illegally submitting a ballot for her mother in the May 2022 Democratic Primary.

These illegal voting charges are misdemeanors of the first- and second-degree and punishable by a maximum of 5 years and 2 years in prison respectively and fines totaling $15,000.

The discrepancy was noticed by Chief Clerk/Registrar of the Lancaster County Board of Elections and Registration Commission Christa Miller, who relayed the information to detectives on April 28, 2022.

“This office will strictly enforce our election laws when presented with evidence of fraud,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said. “Strict enforcement is intended to deter future conduct and necessary to protect the integrity of our elections, which are an integral part of a functioning democracy.”

The mail-in ballot from Mihaliak’s mother was signed and dated April 26, 2022; information from the obituary and records from the Department of Health showed Mihaliak’s mother was deceased on April 14, 2022. Mihaliak’s mother was removed from the voter rolls on April 25, 2022.

Mihaliak requested both her and her mother’s ballots on March 17, 2022.

Lancaster County Detectives spoke with Mihaliak on May 5, 2022, and the defendant said she voted for her mother and signed the ballot after her mother died. The defendant said she knew who her mother was going to vote for and decided to cast her vote posthumously.

If convicted of these counts, Mihaliak will not be able to vote for a term of four years from the date of the conviction.

Mihaliak is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Lancaster County Detective Larry Martin filed charges which were approved by Chief of Appeals and Legal Services Ande Gonzalez.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.