Former SLO County supervisor candidate convicted of felony election fraud
The former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor candidate who ran her campaign on a platform of anti-corruption was convicted of felony election fraud on Monday.
Michelle M. Morrow, 55, of Grover Beach was originally charged with four felony counts of voter fraud, a voter registration violation, perjury by declaration and false filing of candidacy during her campaign for the District 3 supervisor seat in the March primary, the District Attorney’s Office said in September.
Her first arraignment in October was pushed due to “a lot” of discovery left to review, Morrow’s defense attorney Jim Murphy told The Tribune at the time. He declined to comment further on the details of the case.
At her second court appearance on Monday, she pleaded no contest to two of the counts: filing a false declaration of candidacy and fraudulent attempts to vote, according to the court docket. A no contest plea functions the same as a guilty plea, allowing a defendant to accept a conviction without admitting direct fault.
The other two felony charges against her for perjury by declaration and a voter registration violation were dropped, according to court documents.
Having entered a plea, Morrow will skip a trial and head straight to sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 6 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 3 of the San Luis Obispo Superior Court, court documents show.
As a condition of her plea, Morrow agreed to be sentenced to two years of supervised felony probation, the longest term allowed under law, according to Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth. According to the plea agreement, she also faces a sentencing of up to 180 days in county jail, Dobroth said. She could receive more time if she violates probation, he said.
Morrow has posted bail and will remain in the community until her sentencing.
DA convicts Morrow of never having lived in the district
Morrow ran as a write-in Republican candidate challenging incumbent Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg for her District 3 seat in the March primary election. Ortiz-Legg won in a landslide.
In one campaign ad on Facebook, Morrow’s top priority was to “eliminate corruption.”
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.
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.
At the time, 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.
The exact circumstances that led to Morrow’s convictions remain unclear, but they amounted to a finding that she never lived at the Grover Beach address in District 3.
In October, two other candidates for the Nov. 5 election were reported to the DA’s Office on similar allegations of election fraud, but the office has neither confirmed nor denied whether it is investigating the cases.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 1:10 PM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Michelle Morrow also faces a sentencing of up to 180 days in county jail and more if she violates probation.
