Fact Check

Did an 'Illegal' Immigrant Brag About Voting Five Times for Hillary Clinton?

A conservative web site mischaracterized the case against Rosa Ortega, who voted illegally -- and allegedly for Republican candidates.

Published Aug. 14, 2017

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Image Via 3dfoto / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
An 'illegal immigrant' was convicted of voter fraud for voting multiple times for Hillary Clinton.

On 11 August 2017 the web site Conservative Fighters published a story attempting to link a woman convicted of voting illegally with 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton:

The headline read:

Arrogant Illegal Brags About Voting 5 Times For Hillary Sees the Judge – Her Sentence Is Devastating!

The story describes 37-year-old Rosa Maria Ortega as a "Mexican national and illegal alien." In fact, Ortega is a permanent U.S. resident, meaning that she had the legal right to live and work in the country prior to being convicted of voting illegally on 8 February 2017. However, permanent U.S. residents are not allowed to vote. Ortega, who was brought into the U.S. as a child, will reportedly be deported to Mexico after serving eight years in prison.

The story itself makes no mention of Clinton -- probably because the case against Ortega does not involve the 2016 election. According to her attorney Clark Birdsall, when Ortega did vote, she actually chose conservative candidates:

She voted for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the 2012 election. In 2014 she voted for our current [Texas] attorney general, Ken Paxton. And guess what? He's the one responsible for prosecuting her.

Moreover, Ortega did not "vote 5 times" in a single election; she reportedly voted five times since 2004, but only voted once during each election. Ortega claimed in court that she was confused by voter registration forms and thought that she had the right to vote.

Conservatives have repeatedly claimed that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally in past U.S. elections. However, those claims either lack evidence or are demonstrably false.

Sources

Wines, Michael. "Illegal Voting Gets Texas Woman 8 Years in Prison, and Certain Deportation." New York Times. 10 February 2017.

Wang, Amy B. "Republican Green-Card Holder who Voted Illegally in Texas Gets 8 Years in Prison." Washington Post. 11 February 2017.

Arturo Garcia is a former writer for Snopes.