Wife of Iowa Republican primary candidate convicted on 52 counts of voter fraud from 2020 election

21 November 2023

Kim Phuong Taylor was convicted by a federal jury on Tuesday for orchestrating a voter fraud scheme during the 2020 primary and general elections in Woodbury County, Iowa, and faces up to five years in prison for each of the 52 counts.

Iowa Public Radio reported that the 49-year-old — who is married to Woodbury County supervisor Jeremy Taylor — illegally filled out voter registration forms and absentee ballots on behalf of other Vietnamese immigrants without their knowledge. According to the Department of Justice's statement on Kim Taylor's conviction, she "completed and signed voter forms without voters’ permission and told others that they could sign on behalf of relatives who were not present."

Jeremy Taylor ran an unsuccessful campaign in the 2020 Republican primary for Iowa's 4th Congressional District, which was previously held by Rep. Steve King. King ended up losing the primary to Randy Feenstra, who also won the general election. After losing that primary, Jeremy Taylor successfully ran for the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors, where he is currently vice chair. Matthew Ung, who chairs the county board, urged Taylor to resign following his wife's voter fraud conviction.

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"[Kim Taylor was] Set up to take the fall for him, as they were both involved," Ung said. "There was never a time I didn’t know what my wife was doing to help my campaign."

During Kim Taylor's trial, Woodbury County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Pat Gill testified that he suspected foul play when seeing signatures on absentee ballots that looked like they were made by the same person. Additionally, the prosecution brought two Iowa State University students to the stand, who testified that they had tried to fill out absentee ballots and cast votes for Democrats, only to learn that ballots had already been cast in their name, including for then-President Donald Trump. Both students were ultimately able to obtain new ballots to vote in time for the 2020 election.

Prosecutors argued that finding Kim Taylor guilty of voter fraud was important to safeguard democracy, and that she had worked on campaigns since 2008 and "knew the difference between right and wrong."

Kim Taylor was convicted on 26 counts of providing false information in registering and voting, 23 counts of fraudulent voting, and three counts of fraudulent registration. A sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.

Iowa Public Radio's full report is here.

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