LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster County woman who pleaded guilty to forging her dead mother's signature on a mail-in ballot during the 2022 Democratic Primary will be barred from voting for four years, court records show.
Cheryl Mihaliak, 61, of Lancaster, was also sentenced to two years probation by Lancaster County Judge Margaret Miller, according to court records. She was also ordered to pay restitution.
Mihaliak pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, a second-degree misdemeanor, on Jan. 20.
An additional count of forgery was dismissed in July 2022, according to court records.
According to prosecutors, Mihaliak requested mail-in ballots for herself and her mother, Teresa, for the May 17, 2022 primary on March 17 of that year.
Teresa Mihaliak died on April 14, 2022, at age 96. She was removed from the voter rolls 11 days later, according to prosecutors.
The discrepancy was noticed by Chief Clerk/Registrar of the Lancaster County Board of Elections and Registration Commission Christa Miller, who relayed the information to authorities on April 28, 2022.
Mihaliak told investigators that she voted on her mother's behalf and signed the ballot in her mother's name, claiming that she knew who her mother was going to vote for and decided to cast the vote posthumously.
