Woman who registered her dead dog to vote forced to put pooch on anti-fraud billboards
Por Paul Farrell — – World RSS Feed
Woman who registered her dead dog to vote forced to put pooch on anti-fraud billboards
Laura Lee Yourex, 64, originally faced five felony counts, but prosecutors dropped the charges after she fulfilled the terms of a plea agreement
Paul Farrell Friday 16 October 2026 14:59 BST
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Prosecutors announced today that a criminal case against a Costa Mesa woman who registered her dog to vote has been dismissed after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and funded anti-voter fraud billboards.
Laura Lee Yourex, 64, originally faced five felony counts, but prosecutors dropped the charges after she fulfilled the terms of a plea agreement finalized in April, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Under the agreement, Yourex was required to pay $1,500 for four billboards along the Costa Mesa (55) and Garden Grove (22) freeways warning against voter fraud.
open image in galleryThe roadside signs feature a photograph Yourex uploaded to social media showing her pet dog, Maya Jean Yourex, posing with a mail-in ballot and an “I voted” sticker.
”Don’t be a dog. Voter Fraud is a Crime. If you can’t legally vote, don’t vote. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute,” the billboards state.
They also list the district attorney’s election fraud hotline: 714-721-7578.
Yourex pled guilty April 10 to misdemeanor knowing registration of a nonexistent individual to vote. Prosecutors dropped four felony charges and reduced the final felony count to a misdemeanor as part of the deal.
open image in galleryIn her written plea filing, Yourex admitted registering her dog as a voter in May 2020, aware that the animal was ineligible to register.
”On or about 5/7/20, in Orange County, I did willfully and unlawfully cause an animal, to wit: a dog, to be registered as a voter, knowing that animal was not entitled to registration as a nonexistent person, and mailed and delivered that affidavit to a county elections official,” she wrote.
According to officials, Yourex submitted mail-in ballots in her dog’s name during both the 2021 gubernatorial recall and 2022 primary election.
The ballot cast for the dog during the 2021 recall was counted, but the 2022 primary ballot was rejected when required proof of residency and registration for a first-time federal election voter was not provided, prosecutors said.
The District Attorney’s Office launched its investigation after the Orange County Registrar of Voters reported in October 2024 that a resident disclosed registering her dog and voting in its name.
open image in galleryYourex had posted a photo of Maya Jean wearing an “I voted” sticker in January 2022, according to prosecutors.
In October 2024, she uploaded another photo showing the dog’s ID tag beside a vote-by-mail ballot captioned “Maya is still getting her ballot,” even though the animal had died.
When Yourex was indicted in September 2025, defense lawyer Jaime Coulter stated that his client intended to highlight vulnerabilities in the state’s voting registration system.
”Laura Yourex sincerely regrets her unwise attempt to expose flaws inour state voting system intending to improve it by demonstrating that evena dog can be registered to vote,” Colter said in a statement at the time.
“Ms. Yourex never hid from taking personal responsibility as she self-reported the matter to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, intending to have them investigate and ultimately improve our voting registration system.”
Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page previously informed City News Service that former Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates alerted him to the case following a conversation with Yourex.
I received an email from former Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates who said a voter talked to him and shared that her dog received a ballot,” Page said. I quickly referred that to the district attorney to investigate.”
Chapman University law professor Nahal Kazemi previously noted that the case proves election security safeguards work effectively.
There isn’t a lot of voter fraud and the system has checks in place, so if something anomalous happens it is possible to catch it,” Kazemi said. To treat it as the biggest problem in our electoral system is misguided.”
The billboards were set to run through the Nov. 3 general election, prosecutors said.
Anyone with details on suspected voting irregularities was asked to contact the Orange County District Attorney’s Election Fraud Hotline at 714- 721-7578.
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Orange CountyHuntington BeachCaliforniaUnited StatesoctoberNovember
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