Tijeras Man Indicted on Federal Fraudulent-Voting Charge Over Deceased Wife’s Absentee Ballot
ANALYSIS · October 10, 2026
Slug: tijeras-man-indicted-deceased-wife-absentee-ballot
Package note: This analyzes a U.S. Attorney’s Office (District of New Mexico) press release dated October 9, 2026 (Press Release No. 26-283). It announces a federal grand jury indictment. An indictment is a charge, not a conviction: the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The release does not cite the federal statute charged, and this desk has not reviewed the indictment itself.
Primary sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico, “Tijeras Man Indicted for Attempting to Cast Deceased Wife’s Absentee Ballot in 2024 Election” (Oct. 9, 2026): https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/tijeras-man-indicted-attempting-cast-deceased-wifes-absentee-ballot-2024-election
A federal grand jury has indicted Patrick H. Perea, 62, of Tijeras, New Mexico, on one count of fraudulent voting. According to court documents cited by federal prosecutors, in October 2024 Perea attempted to cast his deceased wife’s absentee ballot in the November 2024 general election by submitting it to the Bureau of Elections of the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office in Albuquerque. Prosecutors say the county’s Bureau of Elections intercepted the ballot before it could be counted. If convicted, Perea faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Core Tension
The release presents the case as proof that the system works: “Dead people can’t vote,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, warning that anyone who tries to vote for another person “will be caught.” By the government’s own account, the ballot never counted: county election staff caught it before tabulation. The case is one alleged attempt involving one ballot. The release offers no evidence of a broader scheme and no figures on how often such attempts occur. It also does not explain how the ballot was flagged or why the indictment came about two years after the alleged October 2024 submission.
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