5 charged with voting violations in Stearns County

Five Minnesotans have been charged with voting violations in Stearns County.

Court records show 28-year-old Hassan Dawid Abdulkadir, 24-year-old Calia Zhernai Bynum, 44-year-old Bradley Alfred Haugen and 42-year-old Sarah Violet Nesenson, all of St. Cloud, as well as 59-year-old Jill Diane Kelley of Cold Spring, are charged with felony voting violations.

Abdulkadir is accused of voting on Nov. 3, 2020, when he was ineligible to do so because of a prior felony conviction for making terroristic threats. Bynum is accused of doing the same, however, she was ineligible to vote due to a prior felony conviction for financial transaction card fraud.

Haugen is accused of applying for an absentee ballot last year when he wasn’t eligible to because of a prior felony conviction for issuing a dishonored check. A criminal complaint states Haugen told authorities he knew he couldn’t vote, and threw the ballot away and never voted after applying for it, which law enforcement confirmed.

A complaint says Nesenson submitted a voter registration application last year when she was ineligible due to a prior fifth-degree controlled substance conviction.

Kelley is charged with voting twice — once in person and once via absentee ballot — during last year’s presidential primary. The complaint says Kelley denied voting in person.

Each charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. Abdulkadir and Bynum each face two charges — one for registering while ineligible, one for voting while ineligible — while Haugen, Nesenson and Kelley each face a single charge.