Judge rejects guilty plea in Nashwauk voter fraud case, sets jury trial

GRAND RAPIDS — An Itasca County voter fraud case may head to a jury trial in October after a judge rejected the defendant’s guilty plea Monday, Aug. 25, which would have required her to write a 10-page paper on the importance of voting.

Danielle Miller, 40, of rural Nashwauk was charged in October 2024 with three felony counts of absentee voter fraud after allegedly attempting to vote for Donald Trump on behalf of her deceased mother.

Miller initially pleaded not guilty to all three counts in May before petitioning to enter a guilty plea on Aug. 21.

But at her plea hearing on Monday, Miller failed to accurately state the factual basis for her plea, leading the judge to reject it.

Minnesota statute requires defendants to state the factual basis before the judge can accept a guilty plea to ensure the defendant knows what they are pleading guilty to.

In a phone interview Thursday, Itasca County Attorney Jacob Fauchald said Miller told the judge she was intoxicated and that her sister mailed in the absentee ballots. He said this is not what the investigation suggests.

In a subsequent court filing, Miller's attorney Justin Braulick said she intends to use the defense of voluntary intoxication. That doesn’t absolve a defendant of the crime, but it can be considered a factor of the defendant’s state of mind or intent.

But Fauchald said he doesn’t expect the case to end in a jury trial. A final pretrial settlement conference is set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 20, which is the same day as the trial. He said another attempt at a guilty plea would likely take place sooner.

More on the case

Miller was charged last year with two counts of intentionally making or signing a false certificate and one count of casting an illegal vote. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

According to the criminal complaint, Miller told an Itasca County sheriff’s lieutenant she filled out the absentee ballot of her mother Rose Marie Javorina and signed her mother’s name on the signature envelope. According to the Minnesota Vital Statistics Death Report of Itasca County, Javorina died Aug. 31, 2024.

Miller allegedly said her mother was “an avid Donald Trump supporter” and wanted to vote for him but died shortly before the absentee ballots were received. The criminal complaint stated Miller admitted to filling out her mother’s ballot and signing her mother’s name on the envelope. Miller also admitted to signing her mother’s signature as a witness on her own ballot.

The sheriff’s office was notified of possible voter fraud by the Itasca County auditor, who flagged the ballots for fraud based upon the signatures.

Auditor Austin Rohling said last October that the office receives a list of dead individuals from the state, and those people are flagged in the voter registration system. He explained Javorina died before the list was certified, so she was still issued a ballot.

“But then when the ballot comes back in the signature envelope, that envelope is tied to her name,” he said.

“So, when we cross-referenced it in the system, they come back deceased, and the timeline where she passed away before ballots could have even been dispersed was enough for us to determine that that needed to go to our county attorney’s office and ultimately got referred by them to the sheriff’s office for an investigation.”

More on the guilty plea

Miller planned to plead guilty to one felony count of intentionally making or signing a false certificate. The two other counts would have been dismissed as part of the settlement agreement.

Per the Aug. 21 plea, she would see three years of supervised probation, which could be shortened to two years.

Miller would also be required to read Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America by Erin Geiger Smith and write a 10-page paper on “the importance of voting in a democracy and how election fraud can undermine the voting process.”

Additionally, she would have to pay restitution and an $885 fine, provide a DNA sample, undergo a psychological evaluation and maintain a full-time job or schooling or do 20 hours of community service each week.