SLO County woman ‘lacks remorse’ for election fraud, unsealed report reveals
The former San Luis Obispo County supervisor candidate convicted of committing election fraud continued to lie after her conviction and “did not accept accountability or express any remorse for her actions.”
That’s according to the Probation Department’s pre-sentencing report obtained by The Tribune, which analyzes all the facts of the case in order to recommend sentence for a defendant. Pre-sentencing reports are typically unsealed for 60 days after the defendant is sentenced before being closed again.
Until recently, the details of Michelle Morrow’s case have been kept largely in the shadows, with the majority of her court proceedings held behind closed doors in chambers conferences inside the judge’s private quarters and public statements like her sentencing statement requested to be made under seal.
The pre-sentencing report, obtained by The Tribune after Morrow’s sentencing, adds long-awaited new details to the case — including the multiple lies she told both during her campaign and after she was caught.
Morrow, 55, was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Monday for filing a false declaration of candidacy and fraudulently attempting to vote — both felonies — during her run for the District 3 Board of Supervisors seat in the March 2024 primary. It was half of what the Probation Department recommended for her to serve.
Morrow’s actions were illegal because, despite running to represent District 3, she never lived there.
According to the new report, Morrow “demonstrated a pattern of deceptive behavior” during her campaign and after she was convicted in November, claiming in her pre-sentence investigation interviews that her current address was in Santa Maria when it was really in Arroyo Grande. She expected to move to Santa Maria soon, the report said.
Morrow is a registered Republican, though the supervisor position is a nonpartisan office and election. Her stated priority was to “eliminate corruption,” according to one campaign ad.
She also “proceeded to deceive individuals by stating she was recruited to run for supervisor in order to gain credibility and gain votes,” when she later admitted she was, in fact, not recruited, the report said.
“I want to make abundantly clear — crystal clear — that Ms. Morrow was not prosecuted for her political beliefs or her political platform,” San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Ben Blumenthal said in court Monday. “Ms. Morrow was prosecuted because she deliberately and repeatedly lied to the voters of San Luis Obispo County in an unlawful attempt to get elected to a position on the Board of Supervisors that she knew she was not legally qualified to hold based on where she lived.”
Neither Morrow nor her lawyer, Jim Murphy, immediately responded to The Tribune’s multiple attempts to reach them for comment for this story.
Morro used ‘sickness’ as an excuse for crimes, probation says
The Tribune obtained Morrow’s sentencing statement and the other information the Probation Department considered when recommending her punishment — including personal background information and a police report on the crimes — in a pre-sentencing report after her Monday sentencing.
The report included the typical redactions of sensitive information such as home addresses, names of interviewees and Morrow’s Social Security number. No character statements were attached to the report, though San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Rita Federman said she took those into consideration when determining Morrow’s sentence.
Murphy, Morrow’s lawyer, requested that the statement be placed under seal on Feb. 7 so that “confidential information regarding the medical history of Defendant does not become a matter of public record, nor the subject of newspaper articles to her embarrassment and detriment.”
The Tribune then filed an opposition against sealing the statement. Morrow’s statement was ultimately released in full without redactions.
“The defendant did not accept accountability or express any remorse for her actions,” the report said, summarizing the statement Morrow gave to the Probation Department on Nov. 25, the day of her conviction. “She stated she got sick, and her pride got in her way. Once she makes a commitment, she wants to fulfill her commitments.”
Morrow told probation she was recruited to run for supervisor by a “committee of people” that consisted of concerned citizens, but a review of her text messages and emails later confirmed that someone had instructed her to say she was recruited to get “more credibility,” the report said.
“The defendant did not discuss any of the circumstances surrounding her using a different address to run for supervisor other than she got sick,” the report said, without specifying what her sickness was. Morrow’s medical and psychological history was fully redacted from the report.
“The defendant lacks remorse and insight into her criminality as she used her ‘sickness’ as an excuse for her wrongdoing, rather than take responsibility for her actions,” the report said.
Based on Morrow’s ”lack of remorse” and “lack of insight into her criminality,” probation recommended she serve 180 days in jail. Federman ultimately sentenced her to half that time in jail, saying that she considered the character statements and her lack of criminal history.
How exactly did Michelle Morrow break the law?
The investigation into Morrow’s crimes began on March 5, 2024, the day of the primary elections.
Morrow ran as a write-in candidate for the District 3 supervisor seat, challenging incumbent Dawn Ortiz-Legg, to whom she lost in a landslide.
According to the police report, SLO County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano advised investigators she was concerned that Morrow was not a resident of District 3 and thus not eligible to run for District 3 supervisor.
“When we were alerted to discrepancies between the address Ms. Morrow provided and the District 3 boundaries, we shared that with the DA’s Office and cooperated with the investigation that followed,” Cano told The Tribune on Tuesday.
According to the report, Cano stated Morrow had contacted the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office in December 2023 expressing her intent to run for District 3 supervisor, but when the office checked Morrow’s voter registration address, they found it was not located in District 3.
The Clerk-Recorder’s Office explained to Morrow she needed to be a registered voter of the district she wished to represent for at least 30 days and then continue to reside in that district. On Jan. 12, 2024, Morrow told the office she moved and changed her voter registration to an address in Oceano in order to run for District 3 supervisor, but the office told Morrow the new address was still not located in District 3.
Three days later, on Jan. 15, Morrow contacted the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office’s a third time stating she had again moved to a residence on South 5th Street in Grover Beach, the report said. She had also changed her voter registration.
That was the address under which Morrow submitted her nomination paperwork on Feb. 16 as a write-in candidate for District 3 supervisor, signing multiple documents alleging this was her true address under penalty of perjury, the report said.
On the day of the election, March 5, a New Times reporter contacted Cano with a tip from a community member that Morrow had committed a felony by falsifying information about her residence in order to run for supervisor, the report said. The reporter showed Cano a screenshot of a Reddit post by Morrow’s roommate claiming she had used a friend’s address on the candidate forms because she did not reside in District 3.
The roommate, whose name was redacted from the police report, told investigators she had lived with Morrow since August of 2023 and that Morrow “had not resided anywhere else and was consistently at their residence,” the report said.
She also said Morrow decided to run for supervisor because “she did not like that Dawn Ortiz-Legg was running unopposed” and that Morrow mentioned she “put down her friend’s address in Grover” to be eligible to run, the report said.
On May 8, when contacted and questioned by investigators, Morrow told them she rented a room at the address on South 5th Street in Grover Beach but returned to the other residence outside of District 3 after the election.
However, a search of Morrow’s Facebook and Instagram accounts later revealed that when Morrow’s mother privately messaged her asking for her address on Feb. 29, just days before the election, Morrow responded with an address in Oceano.
Also uncovered in the search of Morrow’s accounts was a private conversation Morrow had with a friend discussing renting a room with her in order to run for District 3 supervisor.
“She understands that I’m gonna have to use her address as my registered to vote and my physical address for the next two months?” Morrow wrote. The friend agreed to rent Morrow a room for $100, the report said. Morrow also used the address to vote on a mail-in ballot on March 5.
Further private messages showed Morrow telling her friend she was stopping by her residence for a couple hours to message voters and “say I’ve been there today,” and telling others she was calling a prayer meeting at her “place,” the report said.
“The evidence in this case showed a very purposeful scheme to defraud voters, and not only the charged offenses in this case, but other attempts — apparent attempts — to create a paper trail showing she lived where she did not,” Blumenthal said at Morrow’s sentence hearing on Monday.
One of these attempts involved purchasing a car shortly before the election and registering it at the Grover Beach address where she claimed to live, but actually was not, Blumenthal said.
The search of Morrow’s accounts also revealed messages she sent saying she was recruited to be a candidate to run for District 3 supervisor — as well as messages to other people admitting she was told to say she was recruited in order to “lend her more credibility and votes,” the report said.
“I think it’s important for people to know that there’s an extensive process when people run for office, and part of that process is making sure the public knows who you are and where you live,” Ortiz-Legg told The Tribune on Tuesday. “This sentencing sends us a message about how serious that process is. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of work when you run for office, and it’s not something to be taken lightly.”
Morrow sentenced to 90 days in jail for election fraud
On Monday, Morrow was sentenced to 90 days in SLO County Jail and two years of supervised felony probation — the longest term allowed under law — which she agreed to as a condition of her plea agreement in November, Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth told The Tribune at the time.
She will also be subject to $1,000 in restitution and statutory fines.
Morrow’s three months of jail time will count as part of her probation. However, according to California sentencing laws, Morrow could be released for good behavior as she did not commit a violent crime, potentially cutting her jail time in half.
She has to surrender to jail custody no later than June 13.
