Nearly a year later, Patrick, a Republican, has paid out his first reward: $25,000 to a Democrat in Pennsylvania, who reported a man for voting twice.
“Of course, I never do anything for money, that’s just how I was raised. I do things because it’s just the right thing to do. And I would have reported Thurman if he was a Republican or a Democrat,” Frank told CNN by phone on Friday.
Frank reported Thurman after he recognized the 72-year-old came back and attempted to vote again with a “dark baseball hat and Ray Ban sunglasses.” Thurman pleaded guilty and was sentenced in September to three years probation, according to court documents. Frank noted he wasn’t supposed to be at the polls the day of the election but was asked to fill in last minute by his father, an election judge.
“It was just ironic — it’s my opinion that (Patrick) put up, they put out this bounty to try to find Democrats committing voter fraud. And in fact, it was the complete opposite of what their intentions were,” Frank said.
Neither Patrick’s office nor campaign responded to multiple requests for comment.
In announcing the voter fraud bounty last year, Patrick said at the time, “I support President Trump’s efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidential election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualified. President Trump’s pursuit of voter fraud is not only essential to determine the outcome of this election, it is essential to maintain our democracy and restore faith in future elections.”
Republican state lawmakers across the country have echoed Trump’s voting conspiracy theories and, in some cases, advanced new election bills that disproportionately affect Democratic voters.
Frank plans to put the money toward a home and some toward charity, though he believes he should have been given a bigger reward. Frank said he was told by Patrick’s spokesperson that he received the minimum reward because “we’re looking at bigger fish.”