Former SLO County supervisor candidate accused of voter fraud appears in court
The former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor candidate who pledged to fight corruption but has been charged with four counts of election fraud made her first court appearance on Thursday.
Michelle Marie Morrow, 55, of Grover Beach is charged with a voter registration violation, voter fraud, perjury by declaration and false filing of candidacy — all felonies. She faces up to six years in state prison if convicted.
Morrow ran as a write-in Republican candidate for the District 3 Board of Supervisors seat in the March primary election when she actually lived in District 4, the District Attorney’s Office said in September.
District 3 includes a chunk of San Luis Obispo, plus the Edna Valley, Avila Beach, Pismo Beach and a portion of Grover Beach. Morrow filed her candidacy and registered to vote with a Grover Beach address.
Details of the case were not revealed in court. It is unclear what exact circumstances led to Morrow being charged.
Morrow’s top priority in one campaign ad was to “eliminate corruption,” a post on Facebook showed.
She ultimately lost the race, receiving 866 votes, or 6.59% of the total vote during the March 5 primary. San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg won in a landslide with 93.4% of the votes.
DA says she never lived in the district
According to a Feb. 1 story from New Times, Morrow was initially deemed ineligible to run because she had supposedly not lived at the District 3 address long enough. County election rules require board candidates to be a resident of the district for which they are running in for at least 30 days.
County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano told New Times that Morrow would become eligible to register on Feb. 15 and needed to submit her candidacy paperwork no later than Feb. 19 — which she did on Feb. 16 under the Grover Beach address.
Now, the district attorney’s charges allege that she never lived at an address in District 3 at all.
Morrow’s defense attorney, Jim Murphy, declined to comment on the case. Her arraignment was pushed back to Nov. 18., when she is expected to enter a plea.
Murphy told The Tribune he is waiting on “a lot” of discovery to review in the case prior to Morrow’s arraignment.
The plea comes as two other candidates are being investigated for election fraud in the upcoming November 5 election.
When asked by The Tribune, Cano confirmed that the District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether Arroyo Grande City Council mayoral candidate Gaea Powell and Paso Robles school board candidate Hunter M. Breese actually live at the residences they listed as their home addresses when they filed for candidacy.
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 11:01 AM.
